Remnant's Heroes In The Making
by MQayyim99
Summary: A promise made. Path to Hunstmen on sight. Lack of Semblance prevented it. Jaune thought that he will live the rest of his life away from his dream until he finally got what he wanted; A Semblance and a miraculous chance to attend Beacon Academy. Now, he will face the future full of school, friends, monsters, criminals and heroes!
1. Awaken

_Dale Village had always been a beauty to behold, even to young 10-year-old Jaune Arc. Unfortunately, the village was near to Vale Kingdom to the point where the buildings could be seen._

 _It was normal for Jaune to be fascinated by the view of Vale. Skyscrapers so high that one can simply touch the sky. The light radiated from it during nightfall. The scenery made Jaune momentarily forgot that the world was full of monsters._

 _Jaune just watched and fantasized his life living there under the shade of his large family tree. He wished his father would decide to move there, then maybe he can be trained to be a Huntsman considering Dale Village didn't have any combat school._

 _However, he knew his dad loved the village too much to move._

 _"Hey, Jaune!"_

 _He looked back to see his best friend walking over to his spot; Cardin Winchester. Cardin was a city boy and they're similar in age. Currently, he was staying with both Jaune and his dad because his parents had work-related issue and needed to be in Mistral. He had been staying for about a month and during that, he and Jaune had become closer._

 _Cardin took a spot right next to him and joined in on the city gazing._

 _"Awesome, right?" Cardin asked with a huge smile on his face._

 _He looked over to him and looked back, "Yeah."_

 _The silence that came after was comforting. They were at peace with one another with smiles on their faces._

 _"You know today I'm going back right?"_

 _Upon hearing that question Jaune started to frown. It was so happy a second ago and now it's all gloomy._

 _"… Yeah, I know," he answered dejectedly._

 _"Come on, man. Don't give me that. It's not like I'm moving to Mistral," Cardin joked but it had no desired effect on Jaune._

 _"But then we won't see each other much again," Jaune pouted._

 _Cardin stayed silent for a while until his eyes widened as if he just had a bright idea._

 _"How about this, then? We make ourselves a promise!" he offered to Jaune with a bright smile on his face._

 _"A promise?" Jaune looked back to Cardin._

 _"We'll train ourselves from now on! We'll both sign up for combat school at Vale and then go straight to Beacon!" he exclaimed enthusiastically._

 _"You know we need to get our Semblances first before signing up, right?" Jaune questioned. One of the terms to enroll in a combat school was one needed to have a Semblance. "Also, Beacon is like the hardest academy to get into."_

 _"I-I know that! T-that's why we'll train from now so that we'll get our Semblances before we reach 12!" he stuttered._

 _"13."_

 _"Whatever! Are you in or not?!" Cardin reached out his hand with a pout on his face._

 _Jaune giggled at his face before standing up and grabbed his hand with his own._

 _"It's a promise."_

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 _Swing!_

A slash of a sword.

 _Swoosh!_

A block of a shield.

 _Step! Step!_

2 steps backward.

 _Huff… Huff…_

17-year-old Jaune Arc panted after an hour of practicing at his family's courtyard. While he was practicing, he reminisced the promise he made with Cardin 7 years ago.

His mop of blonde hair was messy from the sweat. His body shone and if he were to wear his t-shirt, it would drench in sweat. His short was a bit safe on that department but still heavy from absorbing too much water. His shoes were the cleanest… For some reason.

He shook his head, trying to pull away from that depressing thought. Unfortunately, the more he tried, the more that thought lingered.

Trying to forget a broken promise was harder than he initially thought.

 _Is it because the Beacon's entrance exam is around the corner?_

Beacon Academy, one of the most prestigious Hunter Academy in Remnant. Once entered, career guaranteed.

 _The academy we promised to go._

He gripped his hair in frustration. _Why does everything go back to that?!_

"Jaune."

He heard his name being called. He turned around to see his 44-year-old father, Jackson Arc, holding a bottle of water and a cup of, possibly, coffee.

His father had the same features as him, albeit a bit different. His blonde hair was shoulder-length. His eyes were the same shade as Jaune if a bit jaded. The only difference in appearance was that his dad had a beard.

He wore a plain dark grey henley, a pair of black cargo pant and a nice pair of military boots.

"Come on, you've been at it for about an hour. Rest," he stated with a displease expression.

He walked towards his father and they sat on a bench they made under their large family tree. His dad handed over the bottle of water.

"Thanks, Dad," Jaune gulped down the content of the bottle. Thirsty.

After finishing his drink in one go, the father-son duo sat quietly with his father sipping coffee now and then. Silence was their friend until his dad started talking.

"You know, I can always call your aunt. Maybe she'll find a way to get you into Beacon?" his father offered.

His father knew how much Jaune wanted to be a Huntsman, which was why he trained him for 7 years to begin with. His father also knew how devastated Jaune had been when he didn't get into any combat school. All because of his lack of Semblance.

"Nah, I don't want to trouble Aunt Glynda," she mentioned how her job deprived her of her beauty sleep. If he was added into the equation, she'll be a zombie.

"You know full well your aunt won't mind, right?"

"Even then, Beacon still can't accept me," Jaune looked downward dejectedly. Even if the rule seemed stupid to Jaune, it was still a rule.

His father sighed and bent down, "Why can't my Semblance be Hereditary? At least then I know you'll have a Semblance from the get-go."

He tapped his father on his back. He looked back to his son, who had a sad smile on his face.

"It's okay, Dad. Besides, even if I can't get into Beacon, I can still work as a smith with you," Jaune tried to comfort his father.

"Then, you're not living your dream," no matter how many time Jaune tried to deny him, he knew deep down, his father was right and being a smith wasn't his dream. Saving people, hunting monsters, that's the business he wanted to be a part of.

"You know as well as I do, Dad," Jaune sighed before gazing the city ahead. "Some dreams aren't meant to come true."

Silence returned and it stayed for a while.

Jaune didn't want to sadden his father but he just wanted to let it go. It's been like this ever since he couldn't go to combat school. Jaune already accepted his impossible dream, why can't his father?

He appreciated his father optimism and he wished his optimism was on that level as well. Unfortunately, being optimistic wouldn't escape reality.

"Let's go to Vale tomorrow."

Jaune swore he had whiplash from how fast he turned his head towards his father, shocked and confusion.

"Why?" Jaune asked, suspicious of his father's sudden… request? Order?

"Just cause you can't get into combat school or Beacon, doesn't mean we can't visit Vale," he got up and started walking towards the house. Before he opened the door, he looked back towards his son and smiled brightly, "Besides, I want to spend some time with my son!"

He walked inside and shut the door.

Jaune sighed with a smile. _Guess I'm going to Vale then… At least, Dad will be happy._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

"Did you know that Johnson's dog got stuck inside the top of the chimney?"

"Really? Again?"

Both Arc family members were riding the train towards Vale while conversing themselves in some topics from the village to waste some time.

Jaune was wearing a nice black hoodie, a pair of dark wash jeans and a pair of sneakers. His father was wearing another set of henley, jeans matching Jaune's and a pair of boots.

Despite his unenthusiastic feeling to visit Vale, he would accompany his father no matter what. Besides, if he didn't go, his father would go pouty on him.

 _Sometimes, I wonder who's the father and who's the son._

He did wonder as to what his father was going to do once they arrive. Shopping? Sight-seeing? Hamburger? He wished it was Hamburger. He loved Hamburger.

"Dad, what are we gonna do when we got there?" he asked.

"First, Hamburger!" _YES!!!_ "Then, we're gonna visit your Aunt!" he exclaimed. Jaune paled at that statement.

"Wait!" he shouted, causing people to look over to them, some shocked and some annoyed. "You wanna make a surprise visit to Aunt?"

"Yeah! Why?" his father tilted his head, confused.

"You know she doesn't like surprise, right?" Jaune questioned. The 40-year-old Glynda Goodwitch wasn't one for surprise because then everyone would see her shocked expression. While it was cute, the glare that came after wasn't.

"Of course, I know that!" his father seemed surprised he would question that. "I wouldn't do it if I didn't."

"You got a death wish, Dad" Jaune deadpanned.

"Nah, she wouldn't dare kill me," his father confidently said. "Besides, your mother had been doing it since your aunt was in diapers."

"Because they're sisters!"

"And I'm her brother-in-law," he crossed his arms with a content smile. Jaune got tired of arguing with his father. He knew it was futile.

However, it was fun having to argue with his father. Reminded him of a time when his father was a bit laid back before **that** happened.

He shook his head. No point in being depressed, he needed his father to know he was happy being here with him.

 _Happy thought! Happy thought! Hamburger! HAMBURGER!!!_

The moment the train arrived, they walked towards Hamburger. The best hamburger restaurant in the entirety of Remnant! No place could come close to it!

To Jaune, at least.

He walked behind his father with a bit of spring in every step he took. Hamburger had that effect on him.

He walked beside an electronic store when a screen caught his attention. It was Lisa Lavender on VNN again.

Talking about Beacon.

"… Beacon's Entrance Exam will be open in 2 months to all applicants from Vale, Mistral, Atlas and Vacuo. About 1400 participants were estimated to take the exam but only 100 people will be entering Beacon. To all young aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses, we, at VNN, wished you all the best…"

 _2 months._

Jaune became dejected once again upon hearing the news. How did everywhere he go, there will be some sort of coincidences where he was reminded of his promise with Cardin. It was as if the world enjoyed toying with him and he was its chew toy. Truly the world was an unforgiving place.

"C-come on, Jaune… Don't be down just cause you hear… some sad news about not being able to enter Beacon. I-I mean it's not like you can't cause you got every reason to be. It's just that… I think I'll shut up now," his father tried to lift some of the sadness out of his son but to no avail.

At this point, Jaune was too gloomy to think happy thoughts. Not even Hamburger can help.

"I-it's okay, Dad," Jaune had a sad smile on his face. His father expression was that of concern.

"Look, Jaune-"

 _BOOM!_

His father was interrupted when an explosion erupted in front of them. They looked over to where the explosion happened and what they saw was shocking to them both.

A giant mechanized battle suit which took about two lanes of the road. Its giant arms were mounted with cannon, clearly the cause of the explosion not 5 seconds ago. Its legs were equal in size in order to support it. The cockpit could be seen by many and only one pilot seemed to be in it.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! DIE!!!"

And clearly the pilot wasn't sane.

Whether the pilot was sane or not, it didn't matter. What matter was he's causing destruction and the people around Jaune were in extreme danger.

"Jaune! We need to save these people lest they get blown to pieces by that robot!" his father was already on the move. Even if his father didn't say anything, he knew what he had to do.

He started running towards the place of impact, a Dust store. He entered the remaining of the store and looked around for any survivors. All the while, the robot started causing another explosion.

"…help…"

It was low but to Jaune it was booming. He strode towards the source of the voice.

A little girl.

She was unconscious. He looked over the girl and found scrapes on her body. None of it was deep but it was enough for her to start bleeding to death. He looked to his right and saw 2 corpses, under rubbles and blood were spilled everywhere.

The smell started to get into his nostrils, and he could feel his stomach twisting.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! DIE, YOU LITTLE PIECES OF SHIT!!!" the pilot screamed as he exploded yet another store.

He wanted to puke but he held it in. No, he needed to carry this girl to safety, and he couldn't do that if he was throwing up his breakfast.

He carried the little girl in his arms and started running out of the store. The robot was still shooting cannons at anything he deemed pleased, so he ran the opposite direction.

He found a man that had a plus arm band with people being treated behind him. _Medic! And they're early for once!_

"Are you okay, kid-"

"No time! Take this kid! She got scrapes on her! I'm going to find more!" before the medic could respond, Jaune was already running towards the other stores that the robot destroyed.

Rubbles, fire, debris, broken glass, people screaming, running for their lives.

Today was supposed to be a relaxing day for Jaune and his father, but it turned out to be a disaster.

"DESTROYING STUFF FEELS SO GODDAMN GOOD!!!" another store exploded.

He found a woman, about the same age as his father, with her back on a flipped car.

"…help I can't move my leg…"

Jaune examined her leg and found out that her leg was twisted in an uncomfortable way. A broken leg.

"Don't worry, ma'am. I'm here right now. Everything's gonna be okay," Jaune reassured her and started picking her up.

"…sorry…"

"There's nothing to be sorry about," he smiled at her. "I'll get you to safety."

Jaune started running towards the medic he gave off the little girl not too long ago.

He put down the woman so that the medic could check up on her and then, he started running back towards the scene only to be stopped dead on his track.

His father was underneath a rubble, a big one at that, and there seemed to be a little kid trying to move it.

He ran towards his father in panic and saw the robot had its arm raised towards his father and the little kid.

"Aww~ That's so sweet," the pilot cooed in a sadistic way.

 _No._

"You know what's even more sweet?" the pilot started chuckling.

 _No!_

"YOU BOTH DEAD!!!" the cannon on the robot's arm started heating up.

 _NO!!!_

Jaune activated his Aura on his legs and started sprinting!

He saw his father eyes. They were almost closed.

He started to gain even more speed!

He jumped towards the robot. Higher than he had ever jumped before!

"YOU WANNA DIE TOO?!?!" the pilot looked back at him with a murdering smile.

He pulled back his right arm.

He focused all his Aura in his arm.

At that moment, everything around him went silence and as if time itself had momentarily slowed down.

He felt a surge on his right arm. A surge of power! A surge of victory!

He could feel his Aura but at that moment, it was more than what he used to. It was if his Aura was amplified! Boosted!

At that moment he knew, he was the winner.

 ** _BOOM!!!_**

A straight punch of power, sending the robot to the sky! The impact around him was powerful! The nearby stores' windows shattered, cracks on various walls. The air from the punch sent nearby vehicles and even people back.

A crater was left from the punch where the robot used to be!

Jackson Arc looked shocked on the damaged his son had inflicted. He turned to see his son standing and he could feel his eyes tearing up upon seeing the sight.

Even with a broken arm, his son was standing tall. Proud and tall.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **This is my first story I had ever wrote in which I felt like I wanted to publish it. This story was inspired by My Hero Academia, obviously. I also gonna take some of the elements from not just the series, but also other series and twists it around to my liking like the broken body parts after a Smash.**

 **Clearly you can see my writing skill isn't that good, not being a native English speaker and all. I tried to make the ending punch to be dramatic, but I don't know how it turned out. So that was the best I could do. Had any criticism? Please by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **I will try to update quickly but, unfortunately, I have a record to be quite lazy. So, don't expect me to update as frequently. It could range from once a week (If I forced myself) to once a month.**

 **Th** **ank you for reading.**


	2. Partake

_White._

That was the first thought that came to Jaune when he woke up on a hospital bed.

He didn't know how long he was out but from the energy he had currently, he was out for quite some time.

He tried to move his arms but found out that only one of his arms could move; his left arm. No matter what he did, his right arm couldn't seem to move. He looked down on his right arm and his eyes widened.

His entire right arm was bruised. The color of his right was no longer fair complexion but rather reddish. He couldn't move it no matter how hard he tried to. No wonder he felt numb when he woke up.

He looked over to his left. He saw a chair right next to his bed, a mirror and a door to the outside of the room. He looked over to his right. He saw another bed with an occupant on it, a chair on his right, a large window with a view of the outside. He took another glance to his roommate.

 _Dad?_

His father was taking a nap, clearly exhausted from their previous experience. He wondered why his father was with him when he remembered that his father was being crushed by a large rubble.

"Dad… Hey, Dad," he tried to wake him up. It took some time, but his father finally started stirring up from his rest.

"Jaune? You're awake," his father exclaimed when he looked over to his son.

Jaune struggled to sat up due to his broken right arm. When he successfully did, his father did the same.

"Yeah… What happened?" he asked as he had no recollection after pulling off a stunt like that.

"Well… After you punch that robot, you passed out," his father answered and Jaune felt lame, especially hearing it from his father no less. Who wouldn't? To do something like that only to pass out after. It was humiliating.

At the very least, he was glad that he could at least saved his father and that little kid from an anguish doom. Well, he knew his father was okay but the kid-

"Is the kid, okay?" he asked, curious and anxious for the answer.

"Don't worry, the kid's fine," Jaune let out a sigh of relief. "His parent took him away while others tried to pick up that giant rubble off of me."

"I'm glad," he smiled. Even if his last image was a lame one, at least he helped someone saw another day.

 _Knock. Knock._

The father-son duo looked at the knocked door. Jaune looked back to his father, seeking answer on who might be visiting them, but he only got a shrug from the man. Both clearly weren't expecting any visitors.

"Come in," his father answered the person or people behind the door. _Maybe a doctor or a nurse._

The door was opened and both Jaune and his father were shocked to see the one behind the door.

Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, accompanied by Glynda Goodwitch.

Professor Ozpin was a 50-year-old man who had tousled silver hair and brown eyes. He looked taller than Jaune. He wore shaded glass spectacles and unzipped black suit. Inside, he wore dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black trouser shoes and dark-green pants. His cane never left his side.

Glynda Goodwitch, his aunt, was a 42-year-old woman who had light blonde hair that was tied back into a bun. Her eyes were bright green, similar to Jaune's mother. She also wore glasses like Professor Ozpin. She wore white long-sleeved pleated top while her lower body was covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt and black-brown stockings. She wore lack boots with bronze heels that made her taller than she actually was. Her purple cape was ever present.

Jaune and his father were still in trance as their brains were processing the fact that Professor Ozpin himself had came to visit. Then, they saw Glynda, slightly behind the gray-haired man, and they paled.

She was giving off a dark aura.

"Hello, I am Professor-"

"Why the Hell are you 2 here?!"

In a matter of a millisecond, Glynda Goodwitch was already choking the soul out of Jackson Arc. The poor man.

"G-Glyn… P-please… C-c-can't… B-BREATH!" his father wheezed out, air was neither entering nor leaving his body. The man was in pain and Jaune could only watched in shock and horror. He prayed his aunt would spare him from her wrath. He still didn't have a girlfriend yet.

With a sigh, his aunt let his father free from his torture. His old man shivered in fear of the mighty Goodwitch.

"Explain, Jack," she lost a bit of the anger in her eyes, but the dark aura still lingered.

"W-we were just here to spend some time and get Hamburger," _Nice, leave out the surprise visit out of the conversation. Good strategy, Dad._ "Then, out of nowhere, that psycho in a battle suit start exploding things left and right."

"I see," she wasn't convinced by the answer. Glynda sat on the chair beside his father's bed while Ozpin stood in between his father and him.

"Um… Excuse me, Professor Ozpin," Jaune called out to the professor nervously, still surprised by his presence. "H-how was the situation? I-if you don't mind telling me, of course."

"You don't need to be nervous, Mr. Arc," Ozpin reassured. Jaune wished it worked but at least it was lessened even for a tiny bit. "The criminal had been apprehended and was sent to the VPD but in short amount of time, he already caused a lot of destruction. About 12 stores were destroyed from the battle suit's cannons, 4 of them being Dust stores. The casualty, however, was more than we imagined. 7 people were found dead while 21 were injured."

 _7 deaths?_ Jaune thought as he clenched his hand into a fist, angry at himself. "I could've done more. If I was fast enough, I could had gotten more. If I-"

"There's no need for you to blame yourself, Mr. Arc," Jaune looked back to Ozpin who just gave him a small yet reassuring smile.

"But I only managed to save 2," he tried to argue but Ozpin just shook his head, as if unpleased by him.

"And because of that, those 2 people you saved could now see another day," Ozpin countered easily, clearly used to this sort of argument. "Mr. Arc, when it comes to saving lives, it's not just about how many people you can save. It's also about how you can save them."

"I-I don't understand," Jaune said trying to comprehend what Ozpin just said to him.

"Very well. Let's say you can save 10 people, but your body can only save 9. By the time you save the 9th, your body is already at your limit. You save the 10th, your body becomes too weak to even carry yourself. Now, you're the one that needs saving. Do you understand now, Mr. Arc?"

"Maybe?" in all honesty, Jaune still didn't quite understand what Ozpin meant. _So, my body's limit is 2?_

"Don't worry, Mr. Arc. With more experiences, your body will adjust, and you'll save even more people," That was a bit better, at least. "If it is any consolation, Mr. Arc, if it wasn't for your Semblance, there will be more casualties than we had now."

 _Fuh, thank God for my… Wait,_ "M-my Semblance?"

"Yes, your Semblance. Why do you think we come to visit you in the first place?" Ozpin raised his eyebrow at that with a smirk.

He looked over to his father and his father shrugged. He turned back to Ozpin and shouted, "I HAVE A SEMBLANCE?!"

"Please, Mr. Arc, refrain yourself from shouting. We're in a hospital," Ozpin looked back to the door, checking if someone would had come into the room to lecture them about shouting in a hospital.

"S-sorry," Jaune covered his mouth embarrassingly. "I-it's just that… I finally have a Semblance…" he looked to his broken right arm. Even if it was broken, it was the same arm that he used his Semblance with. _I can't believe I finally have a Semblance._

"I see. So, you're late bloomer," Jaune scratched the back of his neck at that. "Can you describe the feeling when you used your Semblance just so I can get a better understanding on what your Semblance is."

"Of course," he looked to his right arm again and tried to remember the feeling. "When I pulled back my fist and focused my Aura on it, I could feel a surge in it. I don't how to describe it, but I felt my Aura amplified or boosted. The amount of Aura was still the same but the power behind it was more than what I'm used to."

"I see. So, your Semblance is Aura-based," Ozpin said.

"Aura-based?" Jaune asked. He had never heard of Aura-based Semblance.

"Aura-based Semblance. As we all know, while Semblance needs Aura to use, it never is one of the same. Semblance is a completely different entity compared to Aura. Aura is mainly used to boost one's physical abilities and heighten the regenerative process of the human body. Semblance, on the other hand, usually differ itself from our body. For example, there's someone out there with a Semblance that can shoot out webs from his wrist and someone that have knife-like claws from his knuckles," Ozpin explained.

That was a bit much of an info dump but at least Jaune could understand what he meant. Jaune nodded for Ozpin to continue his explanation.

"Aura-based Semblance is a Semblance that centered around Aura. That's basically it," Jaune deadpanned but when he thought about it, it's literally what the name implied. "The question is, what does it do with that Aura?"

Jaune's head perked at that.

"You see Aura-based Semblance are a rare thing. There's only a selected few which had that type of Semblance to the point of it being non-existence and that's just going by the records. In Beacon, there's only one person that have Aura-based Semblance," Ozpin said a bit proudly.

"Really?" curious, Jaune moved closer towards the headmaster.

"His Semblance is called Aura Manipulation. He can manipulate his Aura and give it forms when in battle."

"Wait… When you say he "gives it forms", does he extract his Aura from his body?" Ozpin nodded. "So, when he gives it forms, he can physically use it?" Ozpin nodded again.

 _That's so cool. So, then-_ "What about my Semblance then?"

"By your information, we can simply conclude that your Semblance is Aura Amplifier. In theory, your Semblance can amplify your Aura abilities such as make your regenerative process faster than others and, like before, you can amplify your Aura's power and allow you to attack enemies with powerful strikes. It might sound tame, but with enough practice, it can be one of the most useful and powerful Semblance."

Upon hearing that, Jaune looked over to his right arm and started applying Aura to it. It felt normally paced as it was before, although he still couldn't feel anything, only the Aura. _I guess it needs to be done separately then._

He recalled how it was done before. How it surged through his Aura, as if giving it a second layer, and he started amplifying his Aura. The pacing started to increase, little by little, and he could already feel the sensation came back to his arm. He could feel the fractured bones started to re-align, as well as his joints. His bruise started to heal, and color started to come back to his arm.

 _This is awesome! But wait…_

"Why did my arm break then?" Jaune asked.

"One's Aura reserve differs from one to another. The amount of Aura in one's body are specific to their physical attributes. For example, you yourself have a massive Aura pool, am I correct?" Jaune nodded. "But since your Semblance amplifies your Aura above your normal capacity, your body couldn't withstand it. Too much Aura can cause your body to explode."

Jaune was surprised by that information. If he was to use his new-found Semblance too much, it could lead him to his death. _I guess you can't have a powerful Semblance, without some side effect._

Silence overtook the room while Jaune contemplated on how to use his Semblance.

"Now that **that** 's out of the way," Ozpin spoke, gaining Jaune's full attention again. "Would you like to join my academy?"

"...what?"

"Would you like to-"

"I heard you the first time!" Jaune interrupted before Ozpin could fully explain himself. "I-it's just… Why?!"

"Did you really think we came all the way to just talk about your Semblance, young man? Especially after hearing what you did?" _I would if you don't look so smug!_

"I-I mean! I-it's not like I don't like your offer! It's just… I still haven't gotten to any combat school yet," Jaune said. One can't just apply to a Huntsman academy without going to any combat school. It was one of the rules.

"Are you implying your father wasn't competent enough to train you?" upon hearing that, Jaune started to sweat nervously. "Combat school isn't anything special, young man."

"What do you mean by that?"

"While my students won't admit it, combat school was nothing more than just regular school with the addition of basic Huntsman training. The only plus they got from it was that they could forge their own weapons for free. Trust me, those four years in combat school are just as boring as your own," Ozpin explained.

Jaune frowned at that. Sure, they got subjects like his own school, but to dismiss them so nonchalantly was putting him off to say the least.

"Even then, I only just got my Semblance. You can't expect me to just enter Beacon without perfecting my Semblance, right?" Jaune still tried to argue with the man.

"Do you really believe the people that would be entering Beacon had already perfected their Semblance?" He asked sincerely. "Mr. Arc, even to this day, there are still many people that are learning new things about their own Semblance. The academies were built in the purpose of guiding them to be a more capable Huntsmen and a better person. Your situation is no different."

"But it wouldn't be fair to others that got in!" at this point, Jaune was frustrated. Why couldn't the professor just let him go through what others went through. Shortcutting himself into Beacon was simply unfair to others that had worked hard to get in.

"Again, do you really believe that you're the first person we asked that never went to any combat school to enter Beacon?" Ozpin smirked.

"What?"

"There are many people before you, who had never gone to any combat school, but still managed to enter Beacon. They went through the entrance exam like everybody else, and they managed to have a spot at Beacon. Their skills speak for them, not their history and yours clearly speak volume today," Ozpin gave him a small smile.

"What? By injuring myself?" Jaune chuckled sarcastically at that.

"By saving people," that stopped Jaune further. "You jumped into action the moment the first explosion erupted. You knew the risk, but you still go on to save those 2 people. You have a heart of a Huntsman, Mr. Arc, and that heart is all I need to know that you're ready for what Beacon had to offer."

Jaune was quite at the moment, trying to find any argument left. His heart told him to take it, that he deserved it. But his heart also told him that it was still unfair to others.

"Jaune."

He turned to his father when he was called out. His father had a stern look on his face, a look he rarely used even when his son had done something stupid or dangerous.

"Just take the offer. This is your chance to follow your dream. I'm proud that you're thinking of others' feeling but by doing that, you're neglecting your own. It's okay to be selfish once in a while," while his stern expression was locked on his face, there's a sense of warmness from it. A caring and loving warmness.

Jaune thought over what his father had said to him. Silence took over once more and both his father and aunt were anxious to hear his answer. Ozpin, on the other hand, stood calmly and patiently waiting for his answer.

"Okay, I'll take the offer," Jaune stated with a seriousness he rarely shown to others. Even if he still felt it was unfair, he won't turn away this opportunity anymore. He gladly accepted Beacon.

"I'm glad you accept it, Mr. Arc, it made this trip to Vale a bit eventful," Professor Ozpin started chuckling. Jaune followed next with his.

"Glad he took it, Jack. At least I have a family there to keep me company instead of being nuisance," Ozpin clenched his heart at that. His aunt was truly ruthless in her words, especially towards people who weren't her family.

"Yeah, I'm glad too," his father paused for a while. "By the way, Glyn. Why did you choked me when you got in?"

"Oh… That," his aunt looked away, slightly embarrassed. "I thought you 2 came her to make a surprise visit or something similar."

At that, Jackson Arc nervously sweated, blowing his real intention for coming to Vale.

"I KNEW IT!" his aunt once again proceeded to choke the soul out of his poor, foolish old man. He had one job, and he failed.

 _May he find peace in the next life,_ Jaune thought as he laughed at his father dismay.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Jaune was currently boarding an airship that was flying towards his goal, his dream, his new life; Beacon Academy.

After gotten out of the hospital, both Arc family members went back to their lively home in Dale Valley. There, his father proceeded to train him for the next 2 months. To prepare him for Beacon's Entrance Exam, they went through a much more vigorous training. It was an experience to say the least.

He was wearing his usual black hoodie, a pair of blue jeans and a pair of black sneakers. He got a big gym bag for his clothes, his armors, his weapons and other necessities. He didn't bring a lot along to Beacon, only things for the next few weeks.

He looked out of the airship's window and there it was. Beacon Academy stood tall near a cliffside, along the east edge of the kingdom. Several waterfalls running down the cliffs to the base of it, highlighting more of the beauty of Beacon's location. Beacon Tower could be seen even from the distance as it was the most prominent part of the academy with several green lights that shone bright even during the day. Clearly a beacon to those seeking knowledge and guidance.

Jaune wished he could appreciate Beacon's beauty more but, unfortunately, his stomach didn't allow him to do so.

 _Of all the time to discover I got airsick! Why now?!_

True to his word, his breakfast was forcing its way out of his stomach to his mouth. Jaune tried his best to keep it in lest he made a fool out of himself, especially on the day of examination. Him being nervous didn't work either.

 _If I knew I got airsick, I would've taken the ship._

But alas, it was not meant to be. He had to make do with the airship for now, even if his stomach was beating the life out of him. The moment one's stomach disagreed, their day turned chaotic.

He looked around to look at the people on board.

Jaune saw a girl who looked younger than he was. She was wearing a red hoodie, black pair of track pants, black boots. Her hair was black with red tips and she was short. She looked nervous as he was probably even more. She was talking to another girl.

The girl was taller than her. She was wearing a denim jacket with what seemed to be a yellow top. She was wearing a dark pair of black wash jeans and brown sneakers. Her hair was the most prominent as it was golden in color and waist length.

Both of them had luggage with them.

He turned away from the two and his eyes widened on the person he had landed eyes on.

He was taller than him. Jaune was. His built was buff, clearly someone who had trained for a long period of time. He was wearing a casual black t-shirt, a pair of light khaki pants and pair of brown boots. Similar to Jaune, he also brought a big gym bag with him. His short burnt-orange hair was combed forward with a peak at the front. His indigo eyes could clearly be seen.

 _Cardin._

It had been some time since he saw Cardin. The last time they met, Cardin gave him one of the most hateful glares he had been given in his entire life. They haven't spoke since and that was 5 years ago.

He wanted to speak to him, to just say 'hello' was enough for him. Unfortunately, he was still afraid. Afraid that he would be given that glare again and afraid that he would push him even further.

 _"You knew the risk, but you still go on to save those 2 people."_

Ozpin words sprung into his mind. It was a risk but if he didn't speak to him now, he probably never will. And so, he steeled himself and strode towards Cardin Winchester who was minding his own business.

He contemplated on turning back but he was too close for him to do so. _Here goes nothing._

"Hey, Car-"

"Don't talk to me."

That shut Jaune's mouth as quickly as he opened it. It was barely above a whisper, but he could hear it clear as day. It was not a request but instead an order.

Cardin looked Jaune in the eyes and gave him the same glare he had given him before. The moment their eyes locked to each other, everything else blurred out. It was only them and this murderous aura on Jaune's life.

They didn't know who long they've been that way, but it felt long to Jaune. Then, Cardin pried his eyes away from Jaune and started walking away, leaving the poor boy alone.

Dejectedly, he walked back towards the previous window, airsick momentarily forgotten. He looked back towards Beacon. He remembered Cardin's glare, but he also reminded of Ozpin's words as well as his father. The fiery passion returned to him in full force.

 _It doesn't matter what my relationship with Cardin now. I'm at Beacon. I'll be Huntsman, no matter what!_

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **I'm back again with another chapter of Remnant's Heroes In The Making. This came out surprisingly fast, considering the fact I usually take my sweet ass time to write. Hopefully it'll be like this for the other chapters as well. Probably not.**

 **In this chapter, I wanted to dive a bit into Jaune's Semblance so that it could give explanation as to what it could do and the side effect to it. Jaune's Semblance in canon, while I like it so far, I wanted it to be more than just healing and protect people. I also wanted it to be an offensive Semblance. His Aura is already large, amplify it, it would be destructive. But as we all know, powerful stuff needs to have a limit. So, the broken arm will have to make do for now.**

 **Jaune also got to meet the sisters just like he did in canon. But he also got to meet Cardin. If you watched My Hero Academia or read the manga, Cardin is basically Bakugou. No, it would not be a carbon copy of him. I would just take elements in Bakugou and put it in Cardin. That's all.**

 **Had any criticism? Please by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Thank you for reading.**


	3. Enter

Jaune was currently in a bus and heading towards his next destination; Emerald Forest.

There were about 24 bus that were currently being used and all of them were packed with people aspired to be Huntsmen. All of them were ready to face their challenges.

Professor Ozpin and the rest of the faculty were already waiting there. Right now, none of them knew what the examination was or how it will be conducted.

Jaune was currently sitting in one of the seats. He was currently wearing a light, short-sleeved, black hoodie. He also wore chest plate on top of it, shoulder plates and gauntlets for protection. He wore a pair of lightweight denim jeans for mobility and a pair of running shoes. He wanted to wear greaves, but the armor already weighted him down, so he sacrificed that.

He was nervous. This exam, which he would be taking, will solidify his worthiness to enter Beacon. An opportunity that he didn't want to miss.

Beside him was the girl he saw on the airship, her short black hair with red tips was a dead giveaway. She wore a long-sleeved, black dress with a high collar and red trim on its sleeves. She had a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front and around her skirt had a red trim. She also wore a pair of thick black stockings and black combat boots.

The most prominent aspect of her outfit was her red hooded cloak that was fastened to her shoulders.

He knew he shouldn't be observing her so thoroughly, but he couldn't help it. His father always said his eyes would latch onto something and observed it from top to bottom and analyzed it. He said that it was one of the best attributes to have as a Huntsman.

Jaune would be fine if it was on a Grimm but not when it was on a person. It felt like he was violating them in some way with his observation.

He looked over to her again and saw that the girl was sweating buckets, clearly nervous. She was frowning with her eyes wide open and was muttering something- _Stop observing!_

He looked back to the front. He felt bad for the girl and wanted to do something to make her felt better. He thought that maybe talking to her would stop her from being too nervous. He took a deep breath and looked over to her again.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, and the girl was shaken for a moment. Maybe she was surprised that he was talking to her considering they had been silent the whole trip.

"Y-yeah… Kinda," she looked away, embarrassed.

"Hey, look. I'm nervous too," he tried to reassure her. He wasn't that great at holding a conversation, but he could try, damnit!

"Really?" she looked back to him and he saw her eyes for the first time. It was silver and the way she was looking at him made her eyes shone so bright it hurt. As if her eyes were that of a puppy. _Too pure!_

"Y-yeah, of course!" _Keep it together, man!_ "I'm nervous as well and I'm pretty sure everyone here is too."

"Really?" _Again… too pure!_

"Think about it, this exam that we're gonna take is a chance to get into Beacon, one of the hardest Huntsman academies to get into. It's actually natural to be nervous," he said. Even if some of them were confident, he knew they were a bit nervous just like he was.

"Okay, that makes me feel a bit better" she said, and her smile seemed to come back to her. "Thank you. My name's Ruby."

He chuckled, "You're welcome. I'm Jaune."

The bus stopped and both Jaune and Ruby were silent. _Have we arrived already?_

Jaune and Ruby looked through the windows and they had indeed arrived at the gate of Emerald Forest with Professor Ozpin and the other teachers.

They got out from the bus and bid farewell. She said she was going to find her sister and Jaune guessed it was the girl with the long blonde hair. _Are they twins or something? Questions for later._

All 1319 applicants stood in front of a huge gate, waiting for Ozpin to set the rules. The Emerald Forest was enormous. One could not even saw the end of the gate.

"Welcome, young aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses. Today, all of you had gathered here in hope to enter Beacon Academy. This exam will put your abilities and skills to become a Huntsman to the test. To see if you are worthy to be the next protector of Remnant."

Everyone was hyped up to enter the forest. To showcase that they belonged in Beacon. That they were worthy to be a Huntsman.

"The test you will be taking will be a simple one. You will enter the Emerald Forest and fight Grimm that you will be encountering in there for an hour. Each Grimm has specific points to them, but we will not tell you how much. Each student would be monitored, all 1319 of you. We will base your mark by how well you performed and how many Grimm you managed to slay. After an hour, all of you must come back to the gate."

The gate started to open up. This was it. The opportunity to prove oneself their values. This exam will determine Jaune's path.

"Good luck."

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Jaune was walking silently through the forest for the last 5 minutes and yet no Grimm had made their presences known. For a forest filled with the creatures of darkness, it was hard to find one.

He had already drawn out his weapon; Crocea Mors. A combination of a sword and a shield that could turn into a sheath.

This was the weapon that had been passed on from generation to generation of Arc lineage; a family heirloom. This sword had seen more than both Jaune and his father combined. A weapon that had served since The Great War.

Jaune, at first, didn't want to wield the weapon. His reasoning to his father was his lack of Semblance. He would wield the sword if his Semblance manifested. Now that his Semblance had been discovered, he intended to stay true to his words for once and took up the sword. His father was glad.

Remembering his father, he was reminded his father advice to him during their time training.

 _"Remember, Jaune. Your Semblance is a powerful one, but its side effect is too severe, and you could only heal it for about 30 minutes minimum. I suggest you only use it when you really need to," his father said as Jaune screamed in agony in the background._

Jaune sighed. The one time he used it during training, he felt an agonizing pain on his arm before it went numb. He realized why he didn't feel any pain when he first used his Semblance was because he passed out right after. Now he started to doubt his Semblance.

 _Grrr…_

He turned around and took his battle stance. He was confronted by 3 Beowolves, all glaring him down like a piece of meat waiting to be devoured from behind the bushes. One was in front of him with the other 2 were beside it.

 _Beowolves, huh?_

Beowolves were large, dark, werewolf-like Grimm; befitting of its name. They were fast and agile creatures, putting slow opponents at a disadvantage. They also fought in packs, this inflicted doubt on their opponents and making it easier to defeat their prey.

They started to creep slowly towards Jaune, and he started to move backwards ever so slightly. Keeping them at range could give Jaune an advantage since he had a bigger view of them. They growled but none dare to attack, clearly waiting for him to make the first move.

The one on the right decided it had enough and launched itself towards him. Jaune easily dodge by taking a step back. The Beowolf landed on its feet but it was further away from him than before.

The middle one suddenly launched itself at him with a claw attack. Jaune didn't had any time to move, so he blocked the attack with his shield. The beast was trying to pry away his shield with its claws but Jaune was very persistent.

The last one launched itself, mouth wide open to bite his head off. He blocked the attack with his sword, the blade between its teeth. Due to the attacks, Jaune was on one of his knees.

 _Shit!_

He pushed back the one trying to pry off his shield and kicked away the other one that tried to eat him. At the corner of his eye, he could see the other one was sprinting towards him.

It launched itself with a claw attack but Jaune managed to dodge it. While dodging, Jaune used his sword to decapitate the Beowolf's head from its body. The headless Grimm soon met itself to the ground and its head was rolling away from its body. The Grimm started evaporating, clear sign of its death.

 _Grrrr…!_

The other Beowolves regained their composure and started growling back at him, glaring him down. The death of a member of their pack didn't slow them down whatsoever.

The middle one launched itself first and with the use of his shield, he slammed the beast to his side where the decapitated Grimm rested. That gave him and the Beowolf some distance.

His eyes went back to the other one just in time to see itself launched towards him. Jaune slid underneath the attack and used his sword to cut the belly of the beast. Once he was done cutting the inside of the Grimm, Jaune rolled back into his battle stance against his last opponent.

They circled one another, waiting for one to strike and the other to exploit it.

The Beowolf struck first with another claw attack. Jaune then again blocked the attack with his shield. The Beowolf tried to, once again, pried the shield off of him. It was a battle of dominance between the Grimm and the human.

 _Stab!_

While the Beowolf busied itself with Jaune's shield, he took the opening the Grimm had given him and stabbed the belly of the Grimm with the point of his sword. Jaune made sure he penetrated it all the way through.

With the last enemy down, Jaune took a few seconds to catch his breath. To think he had killed those Grimm in a minute really opened his eyes to his current skill. He was glad he took the initiative to go Grimm hunting with his father during training.

Once he fully regained his stamina and composure, he started to jog further into the Forest. _That was 3 already, I wonder how many points that'll make._

He was jogging his way around the forest and still no Grimm in sight. Then, a sight made him stopped dead in his track. He sweated nervously upon it.

"DIE! YOU FILTH!"

A red-haired girl, holding a huge hammer, knocking an Ursa straight into the air with just one hit. A blacked hair boy fending off a pack of Beowolves with his pair of what seemed to be fully automatic pistols. The girl with Ruby was punching her way through multiple Grimm while Ruby herself was running at a superhuman speed around an Ursa with a huge scythe. _Is that her Semblance? Cool!_

There were also other people around them as well that were holding themselves well. Jaune was dumbfounded by how well everyone was doing. He also realized how many Grimm there were here. _No wonder I only met 3._

"Argh!"

A voice captured his ear and he turned his head towards his right and there he was; Cardin Winchester

He was wearing a black, tight sport's tank top, a pair of army cargo pants and black combat boots. The only protection he had was his pair of armored vambraces. His mace sat nicely on his shoulder as he panted after killing about 4 Beowolves.

Cardin's eyes met Jaune's, and for a moment, they were silent. His eyes turned to glare at him, as if provoking him. As if dared him to fight.

Jaune's glare matched his and without any verbal exchanges, both fighters went to fight the creature of Grimm. They had silently declared challenge against one another, and both fighters refused to back down from it.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Professor Ozpin had deployed various drones across the sky of Emerald Forest and on his hands, was the scroll that will help him monitored his future-students.

The rest of the faculty were participating in analyzing and marking the future-students' performance in the forest. It would be difficult for Ozpin to do it by himself. _Thank God, one of them had clone Semblance._

He was monitoring various future-students of his but only a few of them actually caught his eyes.

The couple consisted of young Lie Ren and young Nora Valkyrie. They had been inseparable the moment they went into the forest. They had also shown quite the synergy between each other. While young Lie Ren was calm and collective, always prepared for the worst, his partner, young Nora Valkyrie was hyperactive and had quite insane methods on destroying her enemies.

Young Yang Xiao Long was faring nicely in the exam. While her destructive nature was evident, she would take a moment to carefully read her opponents' movement. Her younger sister was doing quite good for herself as well. Her Semblance made her an impossible target to land any attacks. Unfortunately, her Semblance stained a lot of her stamina making her lost focus during a fight.

Currently, however, he was more interested in young Jaune Arc and young Cardin Winchester. Before those two decided to join the fight with the rest of their peers, they had this moment of psychological showdown between them with the way they were glaring towards one another.

 _Now what do we have here?_

Ozpin looked at the way they were fighting. It was as if one was trying to one-up each other. Both fighters seemed to drive themselves from one another. Clearly those two had a past.

"Ozpin?"

He looked back to see his assistance, Professor Glynda Goodwitch. She was currently had a panic expression on her face while looking at her scroll. He walked over to her and saw what was troubling her, his eyes slightly widened.

"Oh my."

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 _Stump_

Jaune stopped stabbing through a Boarbatusk's belly and pulled out his sword. He tried to focus on the sound he just heard and… Was the ground shaking?

 _STUMP_

He felt the vibration on the ground again, but it wasn't an earthquake. It sounded more like footsteps. Footsteps that was heading towards the direction of the students. He looked over to the direction of the sound and his eyes widened.

 _ **STUMP**_

Arrived with an earth rumbling steps and trumpeting, the Goliath had come to challenge the future Beacon students. Its size tripled the size of the robot that Jaune encountered during his visit to Vale 2 months ago. _What's with me ending up in a situation with giant sized monster?!_

"Fall back!" Jaune yelled as they all knew; they were no match for such Grimm with their current skills. Everyone ran away from the direction of the Grimm. He noticed Ruby was panting quite heavily.

 _Did her Semblance exhausted her?_

Jaune watched over her as she struggled to run away from the Grimm. Her sister already was ahead, probably didn't notice Ruby's struggle. The boy with the black hair, who also clad in green and the girl with the hammer passed over him but stopped just behind him to look back at the Grimm. All of them were covered in sweat, dirt and few scrapes on their bodies.

The Goliath suddenly pulled out one of the trees, all the way to the roots, with its trunk. The canopy in Emerald Forest was no mere trees. They had been known to be one of the most durable and one of the heaviest trees. For the Goliath to just pulled it out instantly, it showcased its enormous strength compared to the other Grimm.

The Goliath threw the tree at an unsuspected Ruby and half of her body buried under the trunk of the tree.

"Argh!" she screamed in agony.

"Ruby!" her sister looked back and started to run towards Ruby. Before she could, however, Jaune grabbed hold of her wrist.

"Wait!"

"Let me go! My sister is in danger!" the blonde tried to pry his grip from her. Unfortunately, Jaune was a lot more stubborn than he probably should had been and his grip was stronger due to him focusing his Aura on his hand. _She's stronger than she looks!_

"We can't just attack without any sort of plan!" Jaune argued. Trying to reason with someone that had her emotions took over her decision was difficult. "Look!"

He pointed and she stopped for a while, saw where he was pointing at.

"The Grimm looked as if it was avoiding Ruby, it probably thinks that she was already dead!" true to his words, the Goliath seemed to be walking past Ruby, but its movement stopped near her. "Or its provoking us to rush in to save her…"

"… Then what are we supposed to do?" she asked, clearly worried sick for her sister. He could only imagine what that would feel like. To know your sibling was in danger but the situation made you useless to act. He looked over to the hammer girl and the green-clad boy, they nodded. They agreed to help. _Great._

He analyzed the Goliath's size, strength, speed and durability. He looked over to some of the other people with him currently and their weaponry.

The hammer girl turned her hammer into a grenade launcher. _That could be used to distract the Grimm._ The black-haired boy's pistols were useless against the Goliath. He looked over to Ruby's sister weapon on her wrists. _Are those shotgun chambers?_

He looked around to search for Cardin. He could help lifting the trunk from the girl, but Cardin and a few other people were already in a battle with… _Another Goliath?! How did we miss that?!_

He returned his focus to his current opponent. They need to find a way to rescue Ruby and a way to run far away from the Grimm. Those 3 still waiting for Jaune's plan.

"Okay… You," he pointed at the hammer girl. _Wish I asked their names first._ "You got a grenade launcher. That Grimm's skin is hard to penetrate but your weapon can do some damage and it can distract it for a moment. Use the trees around it for cover."

"You got it, Fearless Leader!" she saluted, earned a chuckle from him.

"Now… You. Does your weapon have shotgun rounds?" he looked over to Ruby's sister and she nodded. "Okay, you will do the same. But since shotgun rounds are not really strong to damage the Goliath, don't try to overdo it. You shoot, then run for cover."

"Got it," she readied her rounds at that.

"Okay… Now, you," the green-clad boy gave Jaune his full attention. "You and I are gonna save Ruby from that tree. I will lift the tree and you will pull Ruby out. Don't worry, I'm strong enough," he nodded.

They scrambled from their position. The hammer girl and Ruby's sister went to each side of the Goliath while Jaune and the boy ran towards Ruby.

The hammer girl shot her first grenade round, exploding on impact. That caught the Grimm's attention and pried its eyes from Jaune. The hammer girl shot 2 more rounds before went into cover. That aggravated the Grimm farther. It started strode towards her before getting shot by Ruby's sister.

Prying his eyes from them, Jaune finally reached to Ruby and she was out cold. Jaune sheathed back his weapon, focused his Aura on his arms and started lifting it up. _Shit! This is heavier than I thought!_

Despite his struggle, he did manage to lift up the tree from Ruby. The green-clad boy carefully pulled out Ruby from underneath it. Once he did, he carried her, running to their previous spot.

"Pull back!" he shouted to the 2 girls. They both heard him and started to run away from the Goliath. Jaune followed suit. The faster they got away from the Grimm, the better. _Why is it not an hour yet?! Get me out of here!_

Then, the Goliath started to do something unexpected. It gave chase to them, faster than they imagined.

The speed of it was too surprising, Jaune and co was dumbfounded for a while. Realizing their mistake, they continued back their run with the Goliath hot on their tails. With the speed it was using coupled with its legs' reach, it was nearing them.

 _If this continues, it'll reach us!_ Jaune thought. He looked around and saw both Ruby's sister and the hammer girl were panting heavily. The green-clad boy was not faring so good as well. The Goliath were nearing them and Jaune could see them starting to panic. _Dad said use it when you need to, and I guess this is it!_

He turned around and faced his opponent. The image of the robot in Vale returned to his mind in full force.

Like before, he pulled back his arm. All of his Aura focused on it, and it only.

The Goliath saw him, trumpeting and stomping its legs furiously. Clearly it saw him as a target. _Good._

Focused, he amplified his Aura using his Semblance. He felt it became more powerful than before. _Is it because of my training?_

Jaune launched himself to the Goliath.

"Arghhhhh!" with a roar, he punched the underbelly of the creature of darkness.

 _ **BOOM!!!**_

He could visually saw how the underbelly of the Goliath rippled from the impact of the punch. The air from the force burst and making everything nearby the area blew away from it. Leaves rustling extremely and trees nearest to them ripped off from the ground.

The Goliath slowly evaporated and fell backwards from the punch.

The agonizing pain was still present, but he could endure it. In just a millisecond, Jaune's arm was bruised and his bones broken. _Still hurts!_

He walked back to the unconscious Ruby and his temporary teammates, a bit winded due to his broken arm. When he got near them, he could see the shock on their faces with the exception of the hammer girl's, hers was that of pure awe. He also noticed the other Goliath had met its doom as well.

A bell rung so loud, the sound surrounded the entire of forest. They looked up and saw a purple glyph, signaling the location of the forest's gate.

"I guess the exam's over," he chuckled and looked to them. "Let's go."

 **O - O - O - O - O**

The examination had ended and Jaune was currently stood at the Amphitheater with the rest of future-peers.

Jaune's arm was already healed, regardless how long the process was.

"I congratulate all of you, for completing the examination successfully," Professor Ozpin spoke, catching every single one of their attentions. "While some had completed it better than others and some may not, I want all of you to know that none of you here are failures. All of you at least managed to score higher than 50. That, in itself, is an accomplishment."

 _Damage control._ His father used that all the time before telling him a bad news. Like when he accidently burned down their car.

"Unfortunately, only 100 people will be entering Beacon," _There it is!_ "But don't be displease if you don't manage to enter. You can still train yourself to be a better fighter and try again next year. We will always welcome people that are willing to take a second chance at becoming a future protector of Remnant."

That gave the people some hope, at least to those that took this career seriously.

A holographic screen was shown to them and there were multiple names on it. **Their** name.

"Those that manage to enter the academy, your name will be present on the screen. Disclaimer: None of it are in alphabetic order," he smiled at them, that sweet sadistic smile. "Happy hunting."

Everybody was groaning, including Jaune himself. He searched for it but the fact that 100 people got in and the names were presented with very small font made it hard for him. He squinted his eyes so hard, his vision was basically non-existence.

 _Jaune! Jaune! Jaune! JAUNE! FOUND IT!_

There it was, the name Jaune Arc plastered on the screen. His name was on it. His name.

 _I made it… I made it, Dad._ He looked towards the ceiling of the Amphitheater, but his eyes went through it and he saw the clear blue sky. He smiled solemnly and he could feel his eyes watering. _I made it, Mom._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **Chapter 3 had ended and now we can finally go into Beacon which I can't wait to write more. While I like action, I like writing characters interaction more. That's why I go for a more school-oriented story cause school is a very social place, even for an introvert.**

 **So, our boy finally made it into Beacon. Woohoo! It took 3 chapters for that but at least he made it. I actually wanted to make Jaune enter Beacon in Chapter 2, but I thought that was too much. I'm not a very good writer, so longer chapter meant more mistakes. Minimum 3k words per chapter is a comfortable length for me. Sorry to those that want more. Again… I'm sorry.**

 **Our MC also interacted with his future friends as well. From the get-go, I want to mention his observant nature which is my headcanon for Jaune in RWBY proper; Dense in social interaction but observant in analyzing battle. At least this way, I had reason as to why he kept described his peers' outfit in detail during his POV.**

 **I also changed Cardin's outfit. This is because Cardin is someone important to Jaune in this story and I wanted him to at least stand out. Although when I think about it, that probably won't do much unless it was presented visually. Still, I want to change his outfit since two of his teammates in canon already wore something similar to his.**

 **I'm not going into much detail on that last line. Do what you will with it.**

 **Had any criticism? Please by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Thank you for reading.**


	4. Breaking

Jaune was walking down a hallway, carrying his gym back over his shoulder, looking for his dorm room. He wore his usual black hoodie, blue jeans and black sneakers.

He was in one of the buildings in Beacon which was Block D. His dorm room was room number 5. He remembered what Professor Ozpin said after assigning them to their dorm rooms.

He said every dorm room will be occupied by 8 people. 1 room, 8 people. _How big is the room?_

There was also the fact he needed to spend 4 more years with them. 4 years with 8 people inside 1, hopefully, large dorm room. _Class won't start for 2 days, so I probably have some time to get to know them._

He was looking left and right to see his dorm room's number until his eyes finally caught it. _Found it!_

He faced the door. He was nervous to meet the people inside, if they already got in before he did. He hoped that they will like him. He took a deep breath and opened the door to his dorm room.

He looked inside and dropped his gym back, his eyes widened.

He wasn't shocked by the fact that room was indeed large. He wasn't shocked by the 4 comfortable looking bunk beds and the study desk right next to it. He wasn't shocked by what seemed to be a huge balcony outside. He was shocked by one thing and one thing only;

There were 6 girls inside. **6** girls.

He stood there frozen, didn't know what to do. He was sweating buckets while the girls were looking at him either in confusion or concern. His mind was blank at the moment and the only thought that came to his mind;

 _AM I THE ONLY MALE HERE?!_

He could see 3 girls that he knew while the other 3 he didn't recognize. The 3 that he knew being Ruby, Ruby's sister and the hammer girl. He kinda wished he learned those 2 names during the exam but unfortunately, they split up immediately afterwards, scared they would encounter another giant Grimm.

Ruby waved at him, but he didn't wave back. His mind was still grasping at the fact he was the only male right now.

"Hey, Nora… Did you unpack alre-," someone popped out of the bathroom of the dorm room and it was the black-haired boy.

Jaune automatically dropped to his knees, clapped his hands together and looked up to the sky. "THANK GOD!"

"Jaune? What are you doing?" he looked to Ruby and she was wearing a concerning look on her face. Of course, she would. He just dropped down and thanked God out of nowhere. He was making a fool out of himself right now.

He got back up and scratched the back of his neck. He looked down to the floor, embarrassed.

"S-sorry… It's just… I thought I was the only boy in the room," he laughed awkwardly at that. He was still thankful that he didn't have to live with all of his roommates being girls but a part of him felt like he missed an opportunity of a lifetime.

"O-oh… That would be weird," Ruby admitted, a slight tinge of red on her cheeks.

"I don't see how 2 boys make it less weird though, Rubes," Ruby's sister chimed in and wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulder. "Hey, at least your boyfriend here had some male friend for him to have some male talk."

"Yang! Jaune's not my boyfriend!" Ruby whined and tried to pry off her arm from her. _So that's her name._

"Oh, come on, Rubes," Yang shook her sister and continued to tease her. "What's wrong with Jaune being your boyfriend?"

"Yang!" Ruby whined loudly and tried harder to pry her off from her. Her face showed a clear sign of blushing and that, in turn, made Jaune blushed.

"Um… Yang?" Jaune called out to her. She looked back at him and he continued, "Can you, uh… Stop teasing Ruby? I don't think she's comfortable with this whole "boyfriend" thing."

Yang looked at him, eyes slightly wide. "Huh, that's weird… I could've sworn you were a bit confident than this."

"Well… That was different," he tried to explain while still scratching the back of his neck.

"No need," Yang brushed him off, smile never falter. "I don't really care about you being confident or not. You saved Ruby, that makes you a friend."

"That's a really flawed logic," Jaune tried to argue.

"Maybe, but it's **my** flawed logic," and clearly, he won't win.

"Yang," a red-haired girl walked towards them. _Wow, that's a really red hair._ "I think it will be rude to keep… Jaune?" she looked over to him and he nodded. "Jaune here, outside. Can you 2 step aside for a moment and let him in?"

The 2 obliged and Jaune nodded towards the girl, picking up his gym back. He walked to his dorm room that he would be living for the next 4 years of his life.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

After that little fiasco in front of the dorm room, Jaune finally took in his dorm room in all of its glory.

As previously stated, the dorm room was indeed large, and it was square in design. There were 4 comfortable looking bunk beds in every corner of the room with study desks beside them. There were 2 bathrooms from the right and left side of the room which was a good thing when there were 8 people living in the same room. There's a balcony outside, across the door. At the balcony, there were a dining table for 8, a kitchen, a refrigerator and a barbeque grill.

 _How much lien does this school have?!_

He put down his gym bag next to one of the desk. He looked around to his roommates, unpacking their belongings, and he thought of something to do while they unpacked.

"Hey," he called out and all eyes were on him. "How about while we unpack our stuff, we introduce ourselves."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Jaune," the red-haired girl from before complimented him. He blushed at that, it was rare for a girl to compliment him.

"Uh! Uh! I'll start first!" the hammer girl from before raised her hand as if she was in class trying to answer a teacher's question. "My name's Nora Valkyrie. This here is my best friend! Lie Ren!" she said as she dragged the black-haired boy to her side.

Nora had a short orange hair. Her eyes were aqua-colored. She was wearing a simple pink shirt, a pair of black shorts and white shoes. She was shorter than Ruby.

"Please call me Ren," he answered coolly.

Ren's hair was long, tied into a ponytail, and black in color with a single pink streak on it. _That's interesting._ He was also a bit taller than Yang. His eyes were pink-colored. He was wearing a black henley, a pair of black pants and black sandals.

"Hi, Nora, Ren," Jaune looked over to the both of them. "I didn't have a chance before, but I want to say thank you for helping during the examination."

"Don't sweat it! We like helping people, especially when we got to break Grimm bones!" Nora exclaimed. Jaune had a feeling he would enjoy spending time with her. "If you need help breaking people's bones, let me in on it, Fearless Leader!"

"You're not gonna let that name go, will you?" Jaune chuckled when Nora shook her head enthusiastically.

"I don't think we broke any of that Goliath's bones, Nora," Ren chimed in.

"I heard crack noises, so that means I break them!" Ren, like Jaune with Yang, didn't add anything after that because it would be a useless battle. _I feel you, Ren._

"Uh! I'm next!" Ruby, like Nora, also raised her hand which Jaune found to be adorable. He nodded her to continue. "My name is Ruby Rose! Nice to meet all of you!" Ruby happily exclaimed.

 _Rose, huh? So, I guess Yang would be Yang Rose._

Ruby was wearing her previous red hoodie, a pair of sport pants and a pair of black boots.

Yang chuckled at her sister childish, yet adorable, behavior. "Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister. I like kicking people's ass."

Yang wore a simple yellow flannel shirt, a white t-shirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of boots.

 _Xiao Long? That… That doesn't make sense. Her eyes are purple too. How are they related? I'll ask later._

"Like kicking people's ass, huh?" Jaune started getting nervous at that. "Remind me not to piss you off."

"No can do," Yang nonchalantly replied then laughed afterwards. Jaune thought it would be best to not piss her off because as of right now, he didn't know if she was being serious or not. He then suddenly remembered what Yang said prior.

"Wait, you're Ruby's older sister?" Jaune asked, genuinely confused.

"Hm? Yeah, Ruby's 2 years younger than us," Yang said while Ruby covered her face with both her hands out of embarrassment.

"Ruby," Jaune called out and Ruby slowly peeked up to look at him, her face's red. "I didn't know you were younger?"

"Yeah," Ruby played with her fingers nervously. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want people to make a big deal out of it. I'm scared you will look at me differently."

"… I see," Jaune thought over what she just said before shrugging it off. "Okay, then."

Ruby looked back up, probably surprised by how quickly he could get over it. "Really? Just like that?"

"You don't want people to make a big deal out of it, right?" he asked, and she nodded, giving him a definite answer. "Then I won't make a big deal out of it. Surprised? Yeah, but I won't think of you any different."

"… Thank you," she looked down at the floor before looking back at him. "Also thank you for saving me back at the exam. I'll try to make it up to you."

Jaune chuckled at that. He appreciated Ruby thanking him for that, but really, he just did what any other person would do. "No need to thank me, Ruby. But if you really want us to be even, then when I got into trouble, you'll save me, okay?"

"Okay!" Ruby happily nodded her head at that.

"Aww… Look at that, you guys are flirting," Yang teased the both of them which made them puffed out steam from their head due to how red their faces were.

"Yang," Ruby whined again and this time, she decided to punch her sister repeatedly which to Yang, probably felt light. Seeing the 2 sisters bickering to each other made Jaune smiled sadly at them. _What could've been._

"Okay… I guess it's my turn now," Jaune decided to speak up since no one was going to step up. "My name is Jaune Arc. I hope to make your acquaintance."

They all paused for a moment and just stared at him.

"You said Arc," Ren spoke up. "Are you by any chance related to Jackson Arc?" Jaune nodded and Ruby, Yang and Nora were suddenly up on his face. Too close for his liking as heat starting to get into his head.

"Um… G-guys?"

"You're related to Jackson Arc?" Yang asked and Jaune, once again, nodded to reaffirm her. "How?"

"Um…" Jaune tried to see where this was going. "I'm… His son?"

That recoiled their heads back in disbelief. Their eyes widened at the fact Jaune was his father's son, for some reason. "What?! You're the son of Jackson Arc?!"

"Yes… What's the problem here?" Jaune asked, confused by their confusion.

"Your father is like the one of the greatest Huntsmen ever!" Ruby exclaimed with starry eyes. _Dad **is** a great Huntsman but one of the greatest?_

The first memory of his father that came to his mind was his aunt choking the soul out of poor old man. He laughed at the memory. The rest of his roommates looked at him questionably while Jaune just laughed out loud.

"Ha ha! S-sorry! It's just that… I just remembered something funny about my Dad, that's all," Jaune said as he tried to dumb down on his laughter.

"I still don't believe you have any connection with Jackson Arc," a white-haired girl came into Jaune's view. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, or rather she glared.

Her long white hair was tied into a side ponytail, a rather interesting way to tie up one's hair. _Make her stand out though._ Her eyes were a shade of pale blue. She was wearing a gray sweater and a pair of tan khaki pants. She also wore a pair of clean looking black heels which made her a bit taller than Ruby. If not, she would be the same height as Nora.

"But I do though," Jaune looked at her rather dejectedly. Why wouldn't she believe he was his father's son?

"Whatever," she shrugged him off without a second thought and continued unpacking her, seemingly unlimited, personal belongings.

"Well… Okay then," Jaune let her go with that. "What about you?" Jaune looked over to the red-haired girl.

"Hm? You… You don't know who I am?" she looked at him as if he grew a second set of head. When she said that, Jaune dived into his memories and tried to find if the 2 ever met. There weren't many people back in Dale Village, especially females, so if they met, he would definitely remember her.

"I'm sorry, I don't. Have we met before?" He asked sincerely.

"You really don't know who she is?" the white-haired girl went back to him. She seemed to be getting frustrated with him and he sincerely didn't know why.

"It's okay, Weiss. My name is Pyrrha Nikos," she interjected.

"Pyrrha, huh? Sorry, never heard of you," Jaune apologized. Maybe she's a celebrity or some sort, which explained why he never heard of her. He wasn't one for tv shows.

Pyrrha had her long fiery red hair in a ponytail and her eyes were emerald in color. She was tall, almost as tall as Jaune. She was wearing a simple gold, long-sleeved t-shirt. She also wore a pair of white short and black shoes.

"Does Mistral Regional Tournament come to mind?" Weiss asked, hands on her hips. _Yeah, let's not focus on that._

"Again, no," he looked back to Pyrrha. "Sorry."

"It's okay, Jaune," she reassured with a smile. "Actually, it's nice that someone doesn't know who I am once in a while. It makes thing much more interesting, in my opinion."

He smiled back at her. Something about her smile made Jaune wanted to smile as well. There was something of reassurance in that smile and he liked it for it. He turned his attention to Weiss. "How about you?"

"Really? Okay, I can let the information that you're son of Jackson Arc slip by. I can ignore the fact you have not the slightest clue on who Pyrrha Nikos is! But for you to not know about-!"

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." a feline Faunus girl interjected before Weiss could say any farther. He knew she was Faunus because of her apparent cat ears on top of her head. _Thank you!_

"Hmph! At least someone here doesn't live under a rock," Weiss crossed her arms and looked at Jaune with disgust. He hoped she won't glare at him the entire time he's living in Beacon because that would make his life here unbearable. He already had Cardin's.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I just do it to make you shut up," ignoring Weiss' look of disbelief, she looked over to Jaune. "Blake Belladonna," she said then went back to unloading her bag.

Her hair was long, jet black and flowy. Her eyes were that of amber. She was taller than Weiss but shorter than Yang. She wore a simple white dress shirt, a pair of black jeans and sneakers. _Simple yet classy._

Now that everyone had already introduced themselves, they went back to unpacking their belongings. As he unpacked his own stuff, he looked back to Weiss. He wanted to start over with Weiss and be, at least, good acquaintances towards one another. He thought of something to do while going by her behaviors so far.

"Hey, why don't we think over some rules? Considering there's 2 males and the rest being females, we need some rules, right?" he said it as soon as the idea popped into his mind.

Weiss' head perked at this. She turned her head towards Jaune, which made him felt uncomfortable under her gaze.

"That might be the greatest thing that ever come out of your mouth," she said.

"Thank you?"

 **O - O - O - O - O**

After discussing the rules, Jaune decided to get coffee down at the mess hall. Discussing rules with Weiss took a lot out of him and there's nothing in their fridge yet.

While discussing, Jaune learned that Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake got in through recommendation. _No wonder I didn't see them during the exam. It's kinda hard **not** to miss them._

Once he closed the door to his dorm room, he heard a click from across the hall. He looked over and saw that someone just got out from their dorm room.

That someone happened to be Cardin Winchester. _This is turning into a routine._

Cardin noticed him as well and he proceeded to glare at him. _This is also turning into a routine._

He didn't know how long Cardin glared while he stood, uncomfortably, from his glare. Even if this was turning into a routine, he still wasn't a fan of it. At this point, he could take Cardin ignoring him completely than him glaring him every time they saw each other.

"Hey, Cardin! Wait up!"

The door to Cardin's dorm room opened and out came a girl with light, green hair, matching the color of her eyes. She was wearing an oversized purple hoodie, black shorts and a pair of black high-top sneakers. She was the same height as Weiss but unlike her, she wasn't wearing heels.

"Hmm? Who's this? Is this your friend?" she asked, which Cardin just ignored. Without a warning, Cardin just started walking down the hallway. Jaune sighed. _I understand ignoring me, but can you at least reply to the girl._

"My name is Reese, by the way," she introduced herself to him. "We're going to the mess hall to get some coffee. Wanna come?"

He took his moment to answer. If he were to join, he would have to deal with Cardin… Again. However, the girl did ask him nicely and he wasn't one to turn down an invitation. Who knew? Maybe he could get to see Cardin interact with Reese. _That will be something._

"Sure," the moment he said that, she grabbed hold of his wrist and dragged him to Cardin. _This will be something._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Now, Jaune was sitting across Reese with Cardin sat beside her. They were currently enjoying their cup of coffee. At least, Reese was. Jaune had his eyes back and forth between his drink, Reese and Cardin. Cardin had a faraway gaze while sipping his coffee from time to time.

This felt awkward.

"So, Jaune! How is Beacon so far? It's crazy isn't it?" Reese asked, completely unfazed by the tension between the 2. She wore a big smile on her face that made it hard for Jaune to not smile back.

"Huh? Oh… It's okay, I guess… So far, at least."

"Hmm! The dorm room is crazy huge! And did you know? Our dorm room got 2 girls while the rest are males!" she exclaimed, waving her hands around. _Why does every girl here look cute?! Even Weiss is cute, in a way._

"Wait? You got 2 girls in your dorm?" she nodded at that. "Doesn't that… Put you off?"

"Hmm? Me? Nah! If those boys try anything funny on us, they'll get a beating from us and also Cardin, here!" she putted a hand on Cardin's shoulder to emphasis her point. "Right, Cardin?"

"Sure…" Cardin replied which putted off Jaune a bit. "Even if we're going to train to be Huntsmen, we're still hormonal teenagers after all. That Russel guy seems pretty horny too."

"Yup! He's been ogling me and Arslan a couple of times, now," she said, continued drinking her coffee.

 _Oh my God… Cardin is having a conversation with somebody! I don't know if I should be happy or sad at this._

"I think it will be best if we come up with some kind of rules," Cardin got up from his seat. "I'll see you back at the dorm."

With that, Cardin took his leave.

"So, Jaune!" Jaune looked back to Reese. She still had a big smile on her face. "Do you 2 know each other or something? Cause the way Cardin was glaring at you before looks like you did."

Jaune wanted to tell her but he didn't know how Cardin would take it if he started spewing out their past relationship. The last thing he needed was Cardin being a lot angrier at him when he wanted the opposite. However, he did want to tell her at least something.

"We did. It's just… Something happened and now we're kinda not on a good term with each other," he explained.

"I see," her face turned pondering. "How about this? I'll help you and him being friends again!"

"W-what? No, no, no! You don't have to do that!" Jaune didn't want to burden anyone with this, especially to someone he just made friends with. _Argh! I shouldn't have said anything! Idiot! Idiot!_

"Nope! I made up my mind! I'm going to help you!" Reese suddenly got up and started leaving poor Jaune behind. "See ya later, Jaune!"

Silence enveloped his surrounding before he gave out a deep sigh. _Welp, there's no helping it then._

If Reese wanted to help get him and Cardin to at least be on a good term with one another, he needed to do his part in that as well. He needed to regain Cardin's trust. First, how would he go about it.

 _This is indeed something…_

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **Fuh! I'm finally able to finish this chapter. I was having massive writer-block with this one. Fortunately, I managed to finish it, so I don't need to worry much anymore.**

 **Here, Jaune meet with his roomies. 4 people he met during the exam and 3 other people that got into recommendation. The reason why I made some students got in through recommendation is because it made sense. Someone as famous and quite skillful as Pyrrha would definitely be recommended into Beacon and that goes without saying for a Schnee and a Belladonna. Yes, there would be others as well.**

 **Yes, Reese and her teammates are in Beacon. I wanted to just expend the first years with more students. Instead of adding OCs, I decided to use an established but unexplored team in RWBY proper. So yeah, Team ABRN is in Beacon, guys!**

 **We can also see Cardin isn't always an asshole, only, so far, to Jaune. Will I explain this more? Probably. Who knows?**

 **To Guest (I'm assuming you're the same person since you left the review on the same day): I was being careful with my phrasing ;). Also, I don't understand your comment on Hazel, care to elaborate?**

 **Had any criticism? Please by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Thank you for reading.**


	5. Immovable

"Welcome to Grimm Studies, first-years! I am Professor Port and I'll be teaching you everything there is to know about the creatures of darkness!"

Jaune was in one of the academy's lecture hall, sitting at one of the many desks. He was wearing a black blazer with gold trimming, a special blazer for Beacon students. In it, he wore a plain white shirt, a blue vast on top of it and a red tie. His usual sneakers never left his foot, but he traded his jeans for black slacks.

The other male first-years wore something similar to him. The female's, however, was different.

Next to him, sat Ruby. He appreciated her for wanting to spend time with him, but Yang would find a way to tease them for this, if her smirk was anything to go by. _Welp, can't do anything now._

She was wearing a maroon blazer with gold trimming, a trademark for Beacon Academy, apparently. She wore a white blouse with thin red bow, red plaid skirt and brown vest inside. She traded her boots for brown shoes. She did add her red cloak, though. All the other female students in the room wore something akin to hers.

His attention went back to Professor Port. He didn't want to slack in his first class.

Professor Port was a 48-year-old big burly man, slightly overweight. His hair was parted in the middle and gray, showing his age. He wore a red double-breasted burgundy suit with gold trimming and buttons. His red pants tucked into olive cavalry boots. His prominent feature was his gray mustache which covered the entirety of his mouth and his squinted eyes.

"Here, all of you will be learning how to kill Grimm by using your Semblances, your weapons and, sometime, your bare fists!" _That's a bit extreme, but okay._ "But you will also learn about Grimm's anatomy, their history, their strengths and their weaknesses. In order to win a battle between the Grimm, you need to understand them, to know them. Then, you can rip their heads off from their bodies!"

That got most of the class to laugh and Nora to shout in agreement. Jaune understood what he's saying. If you know what you're fighting against, you will have a better perceptive on how to beat it.

"But!" Professor Port managed to catch everyone's attention with just one word. _He's very eccentric._ "Although I already know everyone here, I will feign ignorance for once! I want to know each and every one of your names and goals."

That shaken everyone. Of all the things they could've been doing, they had to speak up on not just their names, but also their goals? Why? At the corner of Jaune's eyes, he saw someone raised his hands.

"Excuse me, sir! Why do you need to hear our goals and stuff? What does someone's goal have to do with killing Grimm?"

 _Asking the real question here._

"Excellent question! Why, might you ask?" he chuckled a bit at that. "My boy, someone's goal has everything to do in this situation! If one knows their goal to become a Huntsman, then they will know their drive to move forward! Your goals will determine how well or how bad you will do here!"

 _"How well or how bad"? Someone will definitely change their goal after hearing that._

"How about with start with you! The girl with blonde hair!" he pointed at Yang. She groaned a bit before standing up, grinning.

"My name is Yang Xiao Long," she got a bit of woos from the male students in the class, obviously attracted to her. _I try not to observe her physique as much due to… Obvious reasons. Her height was as far as I was willing to go._ "My goal is to have an adventure."

"Adventure, huh? Then, young lady, you come to the right place! A Huntress's life is full of adventure! The questions you need to ask yourself, Ms. Xiao Long, what kind of adventure do you want and what kind of adventure do you expect to have," Professor Port exclaimed.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Yang asked, obviously confused by him.

"In some ways, yes. But those questions still need to be answer. Once you find your answers, you will have a clearer view on your goal. You can sit now, Ms. Xiao Long."

Yang sat down after down, face deep in thought. _She's really taking this seriously._

Jaune thought over her goal. A life of adventure wasn't a bad goal. Actually, that goal seemed to fit Yang, with the short moment they'd interacted. _If you count kicking people's asses as adventure, at least._

"You! The one with the weird-looking hair!" he pointed to a boy with green mohawk. _I didn't know mohawk is still a thing._

He stood up, grinning and exclaimed, "My name is Russel Thrush!" _Hmm… Is this Cardin's horny roommate?_ "I come here to slay monsters and getting chicks!" _Yup, he's Cardin's horny roommate._

He got booed from most of the female students, the rest not caring. There were some male students that clapped for him, probably admiring his bravery for saying something foolish. "Hey, it's not my fault I'm not afraid to tell the truth!"

"I admired your foolishly misplace bravery, son! But I suggest you take caution as to not let your guard down. I'm certain the females here will gladly castrate you if you were to lay hands on them," Professor Port laughed at that but not Russel, as he sat back down, looking left and right.

"What about you? The blonde and plain-looking boy!" he pointed at Jaune. He could hear the laughter already. Of all the description he could've used, he used **that**. He stood up straight and let everyone looked at the face of the one that had been called plain-looking.

"My name is Jaune Arc," that, again, made some people turned their heads towards him. "My goal is to be a great Huntsman like my Dad."

That got a reaction from him in a form of a raised eyebrow and an amused expression.

"Hmm… A noble goal, indeed, but also a big pressure. You have huge shoes to fill there, Mr. Arc," he said.

"I know and I'm willing to see through it," his goal was already made up. No matter what other people said, he will be as great as his father.

"I admire your conviction!" Professor Port exclaimed with a raised fist. He looked around, even with his squinted eyes. He pointed at someone and it turned out to be Cardin. _Of course, it's Cardin._ "What about you?"

Cardin stood up straight and he looked at the other students, gaining their attention. He looked back towards the professor before finally spoke up.

"My name is Cardin Winchester and I'm going to be the best Huntsman in Remnant."

That silence the entire room before someone, foolishly, spoke up, "Umm… Isn't that a bit too high up? It's good to dream but at least make it realistic."

"I don't intend to be the second best let alone an average joe. I'm aiming for the top and I have the drive to see to it. Those that are willing to settle won't understand people that aimed high," Cardin coolly said as he sat back down.

"Hey! Who the fuck do you think you are?! You think you some hot shit?!" somebody else stood up, yelling at him. He was clearly dissatisfied with what Cardin said.

"Watch your profanity! I do not condone people swearing in my class!" Professor Port shouted angrily, slamming his fist onto his desk. "If any one of you wants to swear in order to show your disdain with Mr. Winchester, I suggest you do it after class!"

That made everyone quite. For someone who was eccentric, his condemnation over curse words was unexpected. It's quite admirable.

"Back to topic!" he went from angry to cheery again. "Mr. Winchester, your goal is a fine one and just like Mr. Arc's, yours will put an enormous pressure on you. Are you sure you are up for the challenge?"

"I won't say it if I don't mean it," _Cardin with the cool respond, my God!_

"Good, then! How about you that looks like he hasn't sleep in a year?!"

 **O - O - O - O - O**

It was lunch time and Jaune was currently eating his dinosaur-shaped nuggets alongside his roommates at the mess hall.

The group divided into two, sat across from one another. Jaune, Ren, Pyrrha and Weiss on one side, Ruby, Nora, Blake and Yang on another. All of them enjoying their meals and chit chatting amongst themselves. One of the topics was the names and goals segment they had during Professor Port's class.

"You know… I was hoping that during the names and goals, we got to see different goals from everyone! Turns out, most of them got the same answer," Yang said as she continued to bite down her burger. "'I want to save the world!', 'I want to fight monsters!'… All of them are just generic answers! Not to mention, most of their names are forgettable too!"

"That is to be expected, Yang," Pyrrha said. "Not all of us are driven by something special. Some of us just want to be Huntsmen and Huntresses for the sake of just being it."

"I know! It's just… It's just seemed boring to me!" Yang exclaimed.

"I feel the same… But you can't let something like this dampen your mood," Pyrrha stopped eating her oyakodon and looked towards Jaune. "I have to ask, though, Jaune. Why do you want to become like your father?"

"Hmm?" Jaune stopped eating as well upon hearing that question. "Why wouldn't I? Even if I don't truly acknowledge him as one of the greatest, because I'm his son, I see what makes him great. Two months ago, he showed me again what makes him so great."

"Uh… I need to hear this," Yang scooted closer to hear what Jaune had to say.

"There was an incident two months ago in Vale," he recalled those memories vividly. "I was there with my Dad and the first thing he said to me when the attack happen was; Save the people. He didn't think twice before putting himself into danger and that's why I want to be like him. Being a man that puts other first is someone I want to be"

"Jaune! That was a wonderful story!" Ruby said from across him.

"Wait… Two months ago?" Nora suddenly spoke up. "Are you saying you were there during the crazy robot attack?!"

"Um… Yeah. Why?" he looked around. Nora's sudden shout caught a couple of students' attention, but they immediately went back to their foods.

"No wonder your Semblance looked familiar!" Yang exclaimed, snapping her fingers, as if remembering something. She suddenly pulled out her scroll and showed it to Jaune. "Look."

There was a video on the screen. A video of him punching the robot to the sky.

"I didn't know someone recorded that," Jaune watched the video again and it was indeed him during the incident. "So, someone had the time to record this instead of running away from the scene. Idiot."

"Hey! Don't be like that! If it wasn't for this, you wouldn't be popular!" Nora chimed in.

"I'm still not famous, Nora! Nobody even knows I'm the guy in the video. God, I guess I am plain-looking," _Great, now my mood's down._

"Well, I think you're handsome, Jaune," Pyrrha complimented him which caused his face to turn red. "Back to topic, I think your goal is very noble."

"I agree with Pyrrha! Besides, your goal is infinitely better than that Cardin guy's," Ruby said with a bit of disgust on her tone.

"Hmm? What's wrong with Cardin's goal?" Jaune asked.

"He's just seemed like a jerk! He thinks he's better than everyone!" Ruby threw her hands up, emphasizing her point. "I don't care how high and mighty he thinks he is! He didn't have to say it like that."

"I won't say anything about how he said it, but you got to admit, wanting to be the best is a great goal," Jaune tried to defend. Even if he wasn't a good term with the guy, doesn't mean he won't defend him.

"But how he said it made me doesn't want to take it seriously," Ruby argued.

"Yeah, so far he hasn't proved himself to even be better than Weiss," Yang chimed into the conversation. "If he wants to be taken seriously, he needs to back it up in the ring, one on one with me. Then, we'll talk."

"But-!"

"Why am I getting dragged into this conversation?" Weiss interrupted, slightly angry. "And out of all the topics, why Cardin Winchester? He is the kind of man that will put on a bravado but when put in a tough situation, they'll finally show their true colors."

"And who are you to judge, Weiss?" now Jaune was the being angry at her, not vice versa. He already had Ruby and Yang, now Weiss decided to butt in, making it harder for Jaune to be nice with her. "We still haven't seen him fight. For all we know, he might even be better than you."

Weiss' face turned furious. "How dare you, Arc! I will have you know that I have been trained by the best Atlas combat instructor! What is with your fascination with that Winchester anyway?"

 _Ring!_

Before he could answer, the bell rung, signaling the end of lunch break. Jaune got up from his seat, get rid of his leftovers and proceed to get into his next class, leaving behind his roommates, especially Weiss.

He will apologize later. Right now, he was too pissed to even looked at her.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

"Welcome, first-year students, to Combat Class. I am Professor Goodwitch and I'll be teaching hand to hand combats, weapons training and Semblance training."

Now, Jaune was in the Amphitheater, sitting at the raised bleachers beside Ren, as far away as possible from Weiss. He was still a bit pissed at her. He knew he shouldn't be mad, she didn't know Cardin for crying out loud!

But alas, he was still pissed.

When he got the Beacon's blazer, he also got the Beacon's sportswear. A combination of black-colored sport fleece jacket with gold trimming and similar color scheme for the pants. The girl was similar, with the exception of the main color which was maroon. The sportswear was now in his locker down at the locker room.

"Prof!" someone raised their hand and his aunt gave the student permission to ask question. "Is it true that we will be training to fight against humans?"

"Yes. In this class, you will be training to handle situation against other humans," Aunt Glynda answered. She always had this dark aura no matter what she did, making Jaune sat uncomfortable, hoping that her eyes would not land on him.

"Why humans, though? Aren't we supposed to be fighting monsters?" another student asked.

"While a Huntsman's main job is to slay Grimm, Huntsmen and Huntresses had been given permission by the council to help out with criminals as well. We had been given the power to authorize our position as a Huntsman to apprehend criminals. This class will help prepare yourself for that situation when you encounter them," his aunt explained.

Silence returned to the class, which was the signal that there were no more questions.

"Now then, in today's class, everyone will be having a match," _Right off the bat?!_ "Some of you already have a good view on your strengths and weaknesses but by having a match with other students, you will definitely have a better perception of what you can and cannot do."

Jaune was hoping they would've learned a few things first before diving into battle, like with Professor Port's class.

"Mr. Arc!" _My aunt hates me._ "You will take the first honor of having the first match," _My aunt actually hates me._

"Mr. Winchester!" _My aunt fucking hates me._ "You will be Mr. Arc's opponent. Now go to your locker, put on your sportswear and retrieve your weapons."

Jaune stood up and started getting down to the locker room. However, he noticed Cardin raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Winchester?"

"Instead of a weapon battle, can we change this match into a hand to hand battle? Only this match, everyone else can have a normal match," Cardin asked. _Hand to hand? Why?_ "Or is it too much to ask?"

"I do not have issue with changing the type of match," his aunt looked over to him. "Does Mr. Arc have issue with Mr. Winchester's request?"

He looked back to Cardin and he glared back at him. He looked over to Reese, who was sitting beside him, she only shrugged. She had no idea as to why he wanted to change the match. He looked back to Cardin and the glare was still present.

He glared back and he accepted the challenge.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Both of them were down in the arena, already in their sportswear. Cardin altered his, as he wore his tight sport's tank top, getting some whistling from the ladies. _Lucky bastard._ His fleece jacket tied around his waist.

Jaune just wore it regularly.

They walked towards each other and stopped a feet away. His aunt gave them both some sort of tape.

"This tape is a specialized tape, it can identify the Aura reserve of the human body, making it a tool for matches. All of you must put this tape on any part of your skin. When the tape touched the skin, it will automatically scan your Aura reserve and show it on the screen."

Both of them were handed the tapes and they taped it onto their right forearm. He didn't feel anything from the tape and wondered whether it was broken or not.

"Woah! What's with that Aura reserve?!"

Somebody shouted and he looked up. His eyes widened when he saw the screen. _No… No… That can't be right… Right?_

His Aura reserve was at 1010% while Cardin was only at 580%.

 _I know my reserve is large but that is too much! Even for a 17-year-old, that's too much!_

Cardin's was only half his. Maybe he can- No! He can't let that get into his head! He needed to focus! He was facing Cardin. He wouldn't go easy on him.

"The rules are simple; You will be given 15 minutes to fight against each other. If you are knocked out, you lose the match. If your Aura reserve goes down to 50%, you lose the match. If neither of those happen before the time limit ends, you will be measure by your Aura reserve. Those that have the most Aura, wins. Do both contestants understand?" Glynda Goodwitch explained.

Both of them nodded and a force field was activated around the arena. A way to keep the other students from getting rope into the crossfire.

"Begin!"

Jaune took his stance, a boxing stance. He was already analyzing how Cardin would move and how he would retaliate. However, he was surprised by Cardin's action, or rather, lack thereof.

Cardin just stood there, as if he wasn't in battle. Arms swaying lightly beside his body. His posture was straight but not cautious. His eyes were focused but not determined.

 _Is he expecting me to go first? What is he up to?_

A couple of moment passed but Cardin was still static, not caring. Jaune moved forward 2 steps but still nothing. _Is he mocking me? Fine, you want me to go first? I'll go first._

He focused his Aura on his legs and eyed up for a moment. He had lost 10% due to that. He leaped forward towards him, but he was still standing there, doing nothing. He then focused his Aura on his fist and pulled it back. _Sorry about this!_

 _Punch!_

His eyes widened the moment his punch landed on Cardin's left cheek. The left side of his face was altered into a steel-like matter. Punching his cheek didn't hurt him but rather it caused Jaune pain due to how hard that iron face of his was. _His Semblance?_

Cardin, in an instant, took hold of Jaune's wrist, pulling it away. Before Jaune could react, Cardin grabbed his head and strike his stomach with his left knee; His altered left knee.

He could feel the stinging pain on his stomach but before he could retaliate, Cardin used his wrist to turn him around, 180. He then proceeded to punch Jaune's back, using his altered fist.

That cause a lot more damage than Jaune thought as he was sent flying towards his side of the arena. He rolled himself once he was on the ground, soften the impact. He looked back up to the screen and his eyes widened.

Cardin's Aura reserve was at 560% while his was at 940%. In a short amount of time, Cardin managed to make Jaune lost 70% of his Aura reserve.

Before he could get up, Cardin was in front of him already. _When did he get here?!_

Without warning, he was kicked towards the ring wall. His front took the damage of the kick while his back took the damage of the impact.

He was kneeling down, panting. Air knocked out of him. He eyed up and now his Aura reserve was at 900%.

He looked back towards his opponent and he was glaring him down. The look on his eyes made it seemed like it's looking at dirt on the ground. A waste of space.

In that very moment, at that very place, he understood the hardship that Beacon had to offer.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **I hoped you enjoyed reading Chapter 5 of Remnant's Heroes In The Making. This chapter didn't take too long to write, unlike last chapter. So, hey, more time for me to write other chapters instead of being stuck on one particular chapter.**

 **In this we got to dive in a bit with the classes that Beacon had to offer. Peter Port with Grimm Studies and Glynda Goodwitch with Combat Class. I will try to add other classes but as for now, these two will suffice.**

 **In Port's class, we got to know the goals of our main character and his childhood friend. Like I said, I will take elements from My Hero and put it into this story, so you can definitely see the similarities here. Jaune wanted to be like his father, someone who he looks up to, just like Deku with All Might. Cardin wanted to be the best, just like Lord Explosion Murder with being No.1. I'll dive into others' goals as well but right now, I'm focusing on these two.**

 **In Glynda's class, we are about to see Jaune and Cardin first match against one another. I wanted to write this scene so bad! As you can see, Cardin have the ability to change his body into something akin to steel, like Greed or Tetsutetsu. I'll dive into it later on but right now, that's all the information you're getting. Oh, Jaune is getting his ass whooped. This is going to be fun!**

 **Have any criticism? Please, by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Thank you for reading.**


	6. Unstoppable

_Shit!_ Jaune thought as he avoided another punch from Cardin. Noticing an opening from the missed punch, he kicked the big guy away, giving him a good distance to reanalyze his current situation.

Taking a stance, he eyed up the screen. Cardin was at 500% while his was at 740% and it had been only 5 minutes into the match.

He looked back at Cardin, he was taking a stance as well, waiting for a strike.

Cardin and he were already sweating. Unlike Cardin, however, Jaune got a few scrapes on his body due to Cardin's Semblance. His Aura constantly trying to repair the wounds, making him losing Aura faster.

Cardin's Semblance was a tricky one. He could activate it and deactivate it at will while having no side effects to slow him down. He also seemed to have a good understanding of his surroundings, making it difficult to land a hit. His Semblance was both offensive and defensive.

 _Again… Lucky bastard._

He wanted to use his Semblance, but if Cardin managed to take the hit and get back up, he was done for. Right now, he just had to be faster than him. He realized he wasn't any shorter than Cardin, but even a tiny amount can make a different.

He leaped towards Cardin, aiming the left side of him. Cardin punched towards him, but before the punch could connect, Jaune switched direction to Cardin's right. Jaune's launched his right feet towards Cardin's right thigh.

Once it landed, Jaune could feel the thigh altered to steel-like. _Good!_

Jaune used that as a stepping stone and swung his leg towards his face, getting a nice kick across his right cheek. With Cardin still in shock of getting kicked in the face, Jaune focused his Aura on his right leg, propelling himself from Cardin.

Getting a good distance away, Jaune landed and took stance once more.

 _I knew it. If he activates his Semblance at a specific part of his body, he can't activate it somewhere else. He needs to actually deactivate it and then activate it again._

Cardin regained his balance and took his stance once more. Unlike before, he was already onto him. A barely missed punch from Cardin was all it took for Jaune to remember how fast Cardin truly was.

 _But now he's going to be more on guard!_

Without warning, Cardin gave a left hook on Jaune's right side. Unbalanced, Cardin took another opportunity by elbowing the left side of Jaune's face.

Grabbing the back of Jaune's head, Cardin kneed him right on his face. Before Jaune could find his bearing, Cardin spun, and a backhand fist greeted Jaune. Jaune flew towards the ringside of arena and once again kneeling.

No matter what Jaune did to finally land a hit, Cardin would find a way to give it back 10x. It felt as if Jaune was fighting a one-sided battle. He didn't know if he can-

 _No! I can't doubt myself now. I took the challenge, I'll face it!_

Jaune launched himself towards Cardin again, he took a defensive stance. Jaune saw the opening between Cardin's legs and slid down on it. Once he was on Cardin's backside, he propelled himself up.

Cardin tried to spin and elbow Jaune's right side, but he blocked it using his left hand, grabbing hold of it. With the side of Cardin's face present, he took a swing and punch it. Jaune pulled his elbow, turning Cardin around to face him.

Jaune tried to elbow Cardin's face, but now it was Cardin that blocked it. Altering his entire right forearm, he struck Jaune on his stomach once more. Jaune kneeled once more and Cardin kicked his face, using it as a stepping stone and pushed himself away a few feet.

Checking his nose for any sign of it being broken, he slowly stood up. He was still hurting from the punch.

He took his stance again and eyed up the screen. His was 560% while Cardin was 450%. _How come I lost more Aura than him?!_

In truth, Jaune knew Cardin's ability to maneuver his attacks effectively without losing much Aura was indeed better than his, he was just so frustrated with this fight. It was too much of a one-sided battle!

 _Why?! Why am I so weak?! If had my Semblance from the beginning, this won't happen! I can't beat him! Argh! I can't w-!_

" **Show me…** "

Then, he heard it. It was a whisper but Jaune heard it. He looked up to see Cardin looking down at the ground, concealing his face, making it hard for Jaune to see what he was thinking.

He watched as Cardin glared back at him, but unlike before, this wasn't his usual glare. His face was a mixture of many emotions, but one was clear to Jaune; Frustration.

It was the face Jaune pulled one too many time. A look he used every time he tried to awaken his Semblance. A look he used on his father every time he lent his hand to him, an obvious offer of help to his son but to Jaune, at the time, it was a sign of pity.

 _Of all the time to be pulling that sort of face, why now? Is it because he's frustrated to have to fight someone as weak as I am?_

Then, the words that came out of Cardin's mouth made Jaune understood why he was making such face. Words that made Jaune understood as to why that feeling of frustration was present on Cardin. Words that will forever engraved into Jaune's mind.

" **SHOW ME WHY YOU DESERVE TO BE HERE!** "

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Ruby sat anxiously on the bleachers, looking down at the two boys going at it.

"I can't believe Jaune's still hanging on," Yang, who sat beside her, mentioned. Before she was focused on seeing Cardin fight, just to prove that he was all talk. The moment he drove Jaune back the minute it started, however, she had been shocked as to see how well Cardin seemed to be fending himself. "I guess Cardin wasn't just talking a big game."

Ruby agreed with Yang on that part. While she still thought the guy was a jerk, she could admit that Cardin was indeed serious in being the best.

"Oh, please," Weiss chimed in. "He's facing Arc, of all people, and I believe everyone can beat him with ease. It is not much of an accomplishment."

"Weiss," Pyrrha called. "That's not nice. Beside, you should know by now to never underestimate anybody."

"I'm sorry, Pyrrha, but I'm saying it how I see it," Weiss argued back. "So far, he has not shown anything that can make me consider him a worthy student in Beacon. He had more Aura reserve than Winchester, but now he is nearing Winchester's."

"Weiss, what's your problem with Jaune?" Ruby asked, slightly annoyed by Weiss' attitude towards Jaune.

"My problem is that he wants to be like his father, but the moment I talked about Winchester back at the mess hall, he became furious and stormed off. He's a child trying to be something he's not," Weiss crossed her arms under her breast. _It's not like she has one._

"Listen here, Weiss-"

" **SHOW ME WHY YOU DESERVE TO BE HERE!** "

That shout silenced everyone in the Amphitheater. Ruby looked down to see Jaune and Cardin, a good distance away and they were facing each other.

She and the rest of her friends had no idea as to why Cardin shouted. They also had no idea as to why that shout seemed to have some weight to it, an emotional weight. They just waited as to what was going to happen next.

Ruby focused her vision on Jaune, he looked to be shocked. Eyes slightly wide and mouth slightly opened. Then, those eyes turned determine and mouth shut into thin line.

Without warning, both Jaune and Cardin launched towards one another. Their arms were pulled back, both about to launch their punches towards each other.

Then, Ruby saw Cardin's entire arm changed to metal. Her eyes widened, afraid that Cardin was about to broke Jaune's arm. _There's no way he could survive that punch!_

"Jaune! Stop-!"

 _ **BOOM!**_

The moment their fists came into contact with one another, the air around them burst. Even behind the force field, they could feel the air pressure coming from their punches. _What's with this burst of power?!_

They were struggling with one another as to see who would give in first. Neither of them wanted to lose this struggle of power.

"Children, grab onto something and hang on tight!" Professor Goodwitch suddenly shouted.

 _Crack!_

Ruby looked up to see the force field started to crack. The air pressure was too strong, even the force field couldn't seem to contain it. This led to Ruby and the rest of the first-year students to find something to grab onto.

 _ **CRACK!**_

Once the force field finally broken, they could feel the actual burst of air from their punches. Their hairs and clothes furiously blew from the wind. Their school equipment flew away, making a whirlwind of pens and books.

 _HOW POWERFUL ARE THEY?!_

Then, as fast as it came, the wind around them started to calm down. The pens and books were softly put back on the floor before it poured down on them, injuring them in the process. Professor Goodwitch's Semblance did come in handy in situation like this.

Ruby looked down at the arena again.

Both Jaune and Cardin still had their fists meeting each other, both panting heavily. She looked up to the screen and her eyes widened.

Jaune was at 50% while Cardin was at 60%.

 _I can't believe it… I can't believe that-_

"Mr. Winchester is the winner for this match!"

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 _Splash… Splash… Splash…_

The water running down on Jaune's body did little to defuse his disappointment and frustration he felt from his match with Cardin. Knowing the shower did basically nothing, he turned it off and got out of the shower room and to the locker room.

He put on his school's attire, struggling due to his broken arm. It was already a struggle to slide in his right arm into his white shirt, he decided to just let his blazer's right sleeve sling over his shoulder.

He sat down on one of the benches in the locker room, recalling his match with Cardin.

 _That match was my first match with someone, and it already tells me how much most of these people outclass me._

He looked back towards the door that led to the arena. Before he went to the medical room, he reanalyzed his match.

 _First, Cardin baited me into making the first move, and I just took it. My impatience costed me, I need to work on that. I need to try my hardest to not get baited again._

He recalled how Cardin's Semblance was introduced to him; a knee to the gut.

 _Why did he keep attacking that part of me, anyway? My Aura is still fixing it and I still feel like I want to puke! But at least I know how his Semblance works. The problem is, how am I gonna work around it?_

Beside his Semblance, Jaune also had to take account Cardin's physical abilities.

 _His speed was as twice as mine. At one point, I didn't even notice he was running towards me. He could apply his Aura better than I do. To move that fast and not losing much Aura? I need to learn that as well. Question; How?_

Then, he looked back on his Semblance.

 _My Semblance was able to make Cardin lose 390% of his Aura reserve with just one punch. However, Cardin managed to make me lose 510% of mine. My Semblance amplified my Aura's power but not it's amount. That means Cardin's Semblance managed to counter my attack, defending himself while putting pain into his attack. However, my attack still manages to inflict some pain to him, so that's good._

 _In other words, we don't know who's Semblance is better._

Jaune let out a deep sigh. Thinking about this match really hurt his brain.

 _Step. Step._

The sound of footsteps put a stop on Jaune's thought. He looked over to his left and saw Cardin, fully dressed, walking towards his direction. _Great, now he's going to rub it in. There goes my self-esteem._

Jaune turned his face to look down on the floor. He wasn't brave enough to look Cardin in the face. If he wanted to insult him, he can, but he wouldn't look him in the eyes.

From his vision, he slightly saw Cardin's foot walking towards the door, passing him by.

"You did good."

He looked back up the moment those words left Cardin's mouth. He turned his head towards Cardin in disbelief. Cardin, on the other hand, just walked out of the locker room without looking back at him.

Jaune looked back to his broken arm. His broken arm that managed to inflict pain onto Cardin. His broken arm that managed to gain Cardin's acknowledgement.

He smiled.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

"Okay, Mr. Arc, I'm already done with your injuries. Now, just lay there and rest. I'll be back, okay?"

Dr. Maya, the school main doctor, said as she walked out of the medical room.

Dr. Maya was a 37-year-old Faunus, her fox ears being the sign. She was quite short, about Blake's height. She had light brown straight long hair. Her eyes were green. She wore a plain black dress shirt, a pair of black trousers, brown shoes and a white lab coat.

She used her Semblance, which was able to heal any types of injury, to heal his broken arm. Unfortunately, her Semblance exhausted her patients because it still used a large amount of her patients' healing process. If the injury was to severe, it could potentially kill the patient.

Aura can help fasten one regenerative process without any side effect, but Dr. Maya's Semblance exhausted her patient. While they work the same way, everyone's Aura are unique to themselves and was made specifically for their body. Dr. Maya's Semblance is only unique to her own so if she was to it use on someone, it would definitely have some side effect.

 _Aura is so complicated…_

Now he was just resting on his bed and looked up to the white ceiling. He looked out of window in the medical room, he could see the surrounding was that the color of orange hue. _This seem oddly familiar._

 _Knock. Knock._

He looked back to the door, surprised by the fact someone already knocked on the door. Dr. Maya just left not a minute ago, and someone already came to visit him. He tried to figure out who would visit him right now. _Okay, there's Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha. Nora might be a possibility as well and if she comes, Ren would follow not too far behind. I can almost see Blake visiting but I can't see Weiss even come close to me._

 _Oh, well._ "Come in!" instead of racking his brain over something so trivial, he decided to just saw for himself who it was.

The door opened and out came all of his roommates, even Weiss. _Weiss Schnee actually come to visit me… Wow._

"Jaune! You're okay?" Ruby was the first to come to his side of the bed. He chuckled a bit at her concern, finding it adorable.

"I'm fine, Ruby. Just… Really tired," he explained, giving her a small smile.

"How's your arm, Jaune?" now it was Pyrrha that asked him, face also showing a look of concern.

He appreciated that the both of them cared enough about him to actually be worried. He didn't have much friends back in Dale Village, due to him and his father living quite farther than the folks there. His lack of Semblance being one of the reasons he isolated himself.

"My arm is fixed thanks to Dr. Maya's Semblance," he emphasized it to by showing her the already fixed right arm. _Wow… Even moving my arm was exhausting._

"I'm glad," she let out a breath he didn't she was holding. "Still, you should probably find a way to find a way to use your Semblance without injuring yourself."

Before Jaune could ask, she added, "Yang told me."

 _Oh…_

"Fearless Leader!" Nora exclaimed with starry eyes, catching his full attention. "The way you were fighting was so awesome! The way you jumped into action, then punch him was so cool! Sure, you got hit 3 times after, but you're still awesome!"

He laughed a bit at Nora's enthusiasm. "Thanks, Nora. I didn't do that good but thanks for the compliment."

"Please!" now Yang was the one to chime into the conversation. "You did well for yourself, Jaune. Cardin is one tough cookie and the fact you can actually land a good hit speaks for itself. You just have to train yourself better from now on!"

"Thanks, Yang. I needed that," _Truly I do._ "Who knows? Maybe you can be my training partner."

Later did he know, he just poked the wrong bear.

"Really?! You want to be my training partner?!" now it was Yang that had starry eyes with wide grin. _I think I just make a mistake._ "Cool! That means you can be my punching back! Thanks, Jauney!" _I just make a mistake._

"Arc."

He turned his eyes towards the source of the sound. It was Weiss and she looked contemplated, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Y-yes, Weiss?" he asked, nervous as to why he had caught Weiss' attention.

"I… I want to apologize… To you… About doubting Winchester," she explained, face slightly red. Jaune concluded that Weiss was ashamed that she had to apologize, especially to him, of all people.

"I-it's okay! There's nothing to worry about!" Jaune waved his hands nervously, trying to reassure her. "I'm the one that should be apologizing! I-I mean… I was the one that stormed off like a kid back then. So, you got absolutely nothing to apologize for!"

"Really?" her eyes slightly wide. She coughed a bit before adding, "Right. You're absolutely right. I have nothing to apologize for. Silly me."

 _Fuh… I rather have a fuming Weiss than… Whatever that was._

He looked to his right and found Ren also was deep in thought. He was looking down and didn't seem to notice Jaune was looking at him.

"Ren?" he called out to him, pulling him out of his thought.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was deep in thought," he apologized before his eyebrows furrowed a bit. "Can I ask you something Jaune?" Jaune nodded and he continued, "Do you know why Cardin shouted at you back at the Amphitheater? His choice of words… Intrigued me, to say the least, and had been on my mind since."

"Yeah, I want to know too. What's up with that?" Ruby asked, curious herself.

Jaune looked back down to his once broken arm. He smiled when he recalled what Cardin said back at the locker room.

"He wanted to see if I was worthy," he, himself, didn't truly know why he shouted those words as well, but his words at the locker room helped Jaune pieced it together.

"Worthy?" Blake asked. _I forgot she's in the room._ "Worthy of what?"

"Worthy to be his rival."

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **Hope you enjoyed the newest chapter for Remnant's Heroes In The Making. This took me quicker than I thought. I thought this was going to took me a lot longer to write but then idea just kept pouring down and I used what I think was good. So, voila!**

 **So, here's the continuation of the fight against Jaune and Cardin. It was a short fight, I'll admit. I'm not really a fan of drawn out fight that took chapters to finish, especially if one chapter is more than 10k. I decided to just shorten the fight scene. To finish it off, it went to Ruby's POV and we can see how the fight effect the people, especially that last punch. Before, we saw how Jaune described the aftermath of the fight. This time, we see how someone that is actually effected by the punch describe it. So that was fun.**

 **That locker room was also a scene that I have a lot of fun writing. To write how Jaune analyze the fight was truly fun. Now, Jaune has some weaknesses he needs to overcome. That will also be fun to write.**

 **Also, we got to meet Beacon's doctor (because they need one). As you can tell, she's a discount Recovery Girl. Nothing much to talk about her except for that. She would definitely be a fun addition to the Beacon's faculty. And Jaune's friends cared about him! Who would've thought.**

 **To servantofcardin: Of course! I want to show the world what a badass Cardin truly is! Salem ain't got nothing on him.**

 **To ScultoneSenpai: Yes… But for some reason his name is Jaune in this…**

 **Had any criticism? Please by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Thank you for reading.**


	7. Calm

It was the start of the weekend and Jaune was walking around Vale.

It had been a week since he started learning at Beacon and he was already tired. He was still trying to get used to it, so he decided to find a way to relieve some of his stress by getting Hamburger.

 _Hamburger… Hamburger… Hamburger…_

That was the only thought that went through his mind right now. He just wished his father was here to eat with him. He called his father if he wanted to meet up and eat Hamburger, but things got hectic at the forge. Alas, Jaune walked alone on the street of Vale.

He didn't have much problem being alone. He likes his friends, even Weiss, but they could be too much sometimes.

"… For the last 3 months, Vale had an increase of 15% in its crime rate compared to last year's crime statistic…"

The sound from the screen in one of the town's electrical store suddenly caught Jaune's attention. _This feels oddly familiar._

"… Vale Police Department's Chief, Matt Stern, stated that the number of criminals in Vale have been increasing and two had been identified to still be on the run from the authorities…"

The screen then showed a picture of two people, one male and the other female.

The male was tanned-skin. His hair was long and brown in color, the same as his eyes. The most prominent aspect of his appearance was his goatee. This was Yuma Yagi.

While the male was tanned, the female was pale. Her short hair was grayish blue, covering her right eye. Her eyes were the same color. This was Trifa Argi.

There was other information regarding the two at the bottom of their profiles; Same age, Faunus, etc. Both of them were associates for each other's crimes and both of them had quite the kill count on their heads.

Jaune sighed. _Criminals are increasing more and more each day._

Jaune shook his head, trying not to dwell on the subject. He came down to town in order to relieve his stress, not to gain it. Chanting Hamburger in his head, he strode towards the Hamburger restaurant, a land where dreams came to life!

Only for him to bump into someone.

"S-sorry! I didn't-!" once Jaune saw who he'd bumped into, his eyes slightly widened.

It was a woman, probably a bit older than he was. Her hair was black in color and styled in side swept curls. Her eyes were amber-colored, similar to Blake, only more alluring. With her heels, she was almost as tall as he was. She wore a tight black dress which complimented her perfect- _Nope! Nope! Not focusing on that!_

"Um…" _Great, now I'm finding it hard to construct my words!_ "I-I'm sorry… I wasn't looking were I was going… I…"

She giggled a bit at that. _Cute!_ "There's nothing to apologize for. Though, I would hope we don't bump into each other again."

"U-um" _Oh my God… She's so cute, I can't stop my heart beating! Stop that, heart!_ "Y-y-yeah! I-I promise I will t-try to not bump into you again!"

"You're so adorable when you stutter," she touched his chin with her slender finger. It was a quick touch but the lingering feeling it left sent shiver down Jaune's spine. "If we meet again, hopefully, it will be in better circumstance."

Then, she walked away, leaving behind a shaken Jaune.

 _ARGHHHHHHHH! Calm down, heart! Calm the fuck down!_

He took a deep breath and exhaled. He took another deep breath and exhaled. Once he got his heartbeat calmed down, he looked back towards the woman. She was already far away from him but even from a distance, he could see how she swayed in her walk.

 _That woman's too dangerous._

He turned away from her figure and tried to erase the way she walked from his mind. He then focused his thought on something else. Something that gave him pure happiness. Something that-

He drooled. _Hamburger…_

He continued his walk towards the restaurant, leaving behind the thought of that unknown woman at the back of his mind.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Jaune now walked happily down the hallway of Block D building, skips in every steps he took.

 _Yo ho! Yo ho! Hamburger's for me! Never before have I taste thing so delicious! Yo ho! Yo ho! Hamburger's for me!_

Once he was in front of his dorm room's door, he calmed down his heart. Who would have thought a simple hamburger would made a man so happy. Once his heart calmed, he opened it.

"Hello," Jaune greeted the people inside, which consisted of Ruby, Pyrrha, Yang, Nora and Weiss.

"Hey, Jaune" Ruby greeted from the top of her bunk bed which she shared with Blake. "You look happy."

 _Happy?_ Jaune thought, no realizing he still got a huge smile plastered on his face. "Oh! He he… Just got back from Hamburger… That's why I'm… Happy," he answered nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"Hamburger?!" Ruby exclaimed, eyes wide. "Why didn't you invite me?! I wanna go so bad!"

He put up his hands defensively, "S-sorry! I-I didn't know you wanted to go… S-sorry… Maybe next time?"

She pouted. _Adorable._ "Fine… Next time, you'll let me join you! And you're paying!"

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. Next time we go, you're treating," she said, crossing her arms with a defiant smirk. "Consider this your punishment," _Her Yang is showing._

He just sighed, he wasn't in the mood to be arguing, especially with Ruby. _Well, it wouldn't hurt for me to treat her, I guess._

"Sure," he gave her a small smile. Her smile widened at that. She jumped down and started hopping in place, showing her blatant happiness to the occupants of the room. His smile widened as well at that. _Her happiness sure is contagious._

"By the way, anything happened while I'm out?" he asked all four of them, excluding Weiss because she was studying at her desk which she shared with Pyrrha.

"Yes, actually," Pyrrha was the one to answer. "Professor Goodwitch came to visit our room."

 _Aunt Glynda?_ "What did she come here for?"

"She said we and another room will be having lessons at Emerald Forest on Tuesday. She said we will be having Semblance Training and Grimm Combat Training along with two other teachers," she answered.

 _Semblance and Grimm Training, huh? Hope Aunt Glynda won't embarrass me in front of everyone,_ Jaune thought. "Okay… Who are the other teachers?" he asked.

"First, we got Professor Port because it involves Grimm," _Obviously._ "The other one is a surprise, however. She also said he isn't technically a teacher."

 _So, the other one isn't a teacher. A full-time Huntsman, probably. Maybe he's there to talk about his experience. That'll be interesting._

"What about the other room? The one we're going to be having these lessons with?" he asked.

"Oh, it's the room across from us," with that, Jaune paled. Of all the rooms, it had to be Cardin's. He really thought the world truly hated him. Sure, it gave him a Semblance, but it also gave him all these problems in exchange for that gift.

"What's wrong, Jaune? You look pale," Pyrrha commented.

"Huh?" Jaune waved his hand around nervously. "N-no! No! No! No! I'm not pale at all! What makes you think that?! Ha ha ha ha!"

"Hmm? If you say so," Pyrrha go back to her bed, continuing on her reading.

"Oh! I can't wait to work on my Semblance!" Yang exclaimed from the top of her bunk bed. "My Semblance is already pretty strong but with more training? It's definitely going to be a lot stronger!"

"Yeah!" Nora shouted her agreement from the bed underneath Yang's. Following Nora, Ruby also exclaimed her excitement as well.

 _Everyone's excited to work on their Semblance._ He looked down on his hands, eyebrows furrowed.

 _" **SHOW ME WHY YOU DESERVE TO BE HERE!** "_

 _I need to figure out how to use my Semblance without breaking my entire arm. If it continues, it will be a nuisance rather than a leverage during battle. The question is how do I minimize the side effect while maximizing the power?_

He softly sighed. _I still haven't done any training on my Aura usage and now I have to worry about my Semblance. This is gonna be harder than I thought._

"Oh!" Nora suddenly exclaimed. She looked inside her bag, looking for something. When she found it, she went to Jaune while hiding said something behind her back. "Here!"

When he saw the item she was holding, his eyebrow perked up. "A helmet?"

It was a sallet helmet. A helmet that had been used by the soldiers of Vale during the Great War. He had one back home, an armor used by his ancestors for generations.

"Yup! Ren and I went to Vale this morning as well and I found this in one of the shops there. I remembered you wore armor during our Entrance Exam and thought you will like it. Also, it's cheap, so I bought you one! Tadaa!" Nora said, ever so chipper.

He took the helmet from her hands and inspected it. The color scheme for the helmet did matched his armor's. It was also quite light in his hand, so it probably won't hold him back too much.

"Thanks, Nora. I appreciate it," Jaune said, sincerely.

"You're welcome, Fearless Leader!" Nora saluted, gaining a good chuckle from him. _Don't ever change, Nora._

She walked back to her bed while Jaune still looked around the helmet in his hand. While he did that, he noticed Weiss was shaking in her seat.

"So… Noisy…" she snarled quietly.

"He he… Sorry about that," Jaune apologized to her on behalf of the people that participate in the conversation.

He sat on his bed while thinking about the class he would have at Emerald Forest.

 _Things are going to be interesting._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

"Cinder… Glad you can **finally** make it."

Cinder Fall closed the door of one of the rooms in Junior's Club. "Mercury, you know I don't like sarcasm, right?"

"Too bad," Mercury Black replied with a smirk. "What took you so long, anyway?"

Mercury hair and eyes are gray in color. His usual zip jacket never left his body only without the armor. His pant was black, sash draped over it. His boots were also black-colored.

"I took a stroll around Vale, to see what's the fuss is all about. A Mistralese like myself actually found it quite dull," Cinder said. "But I did bump into a cute boy along the way. I guess that's a plus."

"A cute boy, huh? Didn't know Cinder Fall can actually compliment other people's appearance beside her own. I am shocked!" to emphasized on how shocked he was, he placed his hand on his heart.

"Please… I only call him cute. Not much of a compliment if you ask me," she explained.

"Okay, I heard enough," Roman Torchwick decided to chime in into the conversation, letting his presence be known to the other occupants in the room. "As much I would have love to see two people banter with each other, we have a task at the moment and for once in my life, I want to take it seriously."

His orange hair was bright with long bangs covering his right eye. His eyes were dark-green eyes and his black eyeliner was clear for everyone to see. He wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants as well as shoes. He had a small gray scarf around his neck. His bowler hat was the most prominent aspect of his outfit.

"Fine," Cinder sighed. "How many we got?"

"Henchmen? We got more than enough. We got enough of our peer with us at the moment, but I will try to recruit more. Neo will join us later and give more intel on this mission of ours," Roman answered.

"Why are we trying to have more people, anyway? That'll lessen our cut in all of this," Mercury chimed in into the conversation. "Junior's men? I get it, he'll pay them himself. The rest, though? The only reason I agree to all of this is because I was promised a lot of lien."

"You don't have to worry about the lien, Mercury," Roman answered his question. "We're only going to recruit street-level thugs who think they can be big shots. Trust me, the moment they got in, they won't follow us out. Right, Cindy?"

"For a first mission together, I don't want to risk too much," Cinder said. "We are trying to send a message, not go to war with the Huntsmen. At least, not yet."

"You better hope your… Master's message is worth putting our life on the line," Roman said, pointing his cane to her.

"Trust me, it **is** worth it."

 **O - O - O - O - O**

It was already night time, and everybody was already asleep, excluding two people; Reese and Cardin.

Reese was laying on top of her bunk bed while Arslan was quietly sleeping underneath her. Reese wished she could have some sleep, but her mind and eyes were on Cardin.

Cardin was outside at the balcony, staring at the moon. He was quite all the way, not mouthing a word. Reese wondered what was going through his mind at the moment for him to stood there by the railing for 30 minutes straight.

 _Probably thinking about the next lesson. He could also be thinking about his family. I want to say Jaune but that seems like a reach. Oh! He might be thinking about his girlfriend he left back home to pursue his career as a Huntsman-in-training!_

Unsatisfied with her unanswered question, she got down from her bed and went outside, closing the slide behind her.

"Hey, Card," Reese greeted him, facing his back. "What'cha doing?"

"Nothing," Cardin replied, still not facing her.

"Really? Doesn't look like nothing to me," Reese skipped her way towards him, stopped beside him to look at the moon as well. "Pretty, huh?"

"Yeah," Cardin once again replied, not saying much.

They bot stood quietly, admiring the beauty that was bestowed upon them by the moon. The light reflected from it glistered the skyline of the kingdom, giving it a serene view.

"Sorry to bother you, Card, but I got to know," Reese said, silence fleet from the atmosphere. "What's been bothering you? I know you're kinda broody but I wanna know why. There must be a reason for it, right?"

"Bothering me, huh?" Cardin sighed. "I guess I'm not really that good at hiding it, huh?"

"Nope! At least, not for me," Reese said. "You're usually held yourself great but when it comes to your emotions, we can really see. You're either glaring or brooding. No in between."

He chuckled at that, "I guess so."

Silence took over once again and Reese patiently waited for Cardin to answer.

"Do you remember my goal for coming here?" she nodded. _Who would've forgot about that? He basically made most of the students his enemies. Not to mention, he sounded pretty arrogant too, so that's a minus._

"I just think it'll be harder than I expected."

At that moment, Reese learned something about Cardin. He wasn't just a boy that took pride in his skills. He wasn't just a boy that took pride in his goal as well. He wasn't just prideful for the sake of being prideful.

He was a prideful boy that would admit of his limits.

"Don't worry, Card," Reese said, giving him a big warm smile. "I'm sure you can pull through whatever life throws at you!"

Cardin looked back to her, giving him a small smile. The first smile she had ever gotten from him. A smile she would engrave to the back of her mind.

"Thank you."

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter far more than me writing it! This took too long to finish. I was a bit discourage to continue writing for this story, don't know why though. But, alas, I pulled through and finished writing this.**

 **In this, we now know that a week had passed since our MC started Beacon and he was already feeling tired from all of it. It is to be expected, of course. Trying to adjust in a new life can be quite hard for some people, especially people like Jaune. So, Jaune took a stroll down at Vale and meet our future antagonist, Cinder. Their first in many of their upcoming meetings.**

 **Now, we got three people who will be with the students; Glynda, Peter and another Huntsman. Jaune will finally get input on some of his friends' Semblance since he was at the medical room throughout the rest of his class.**

 **The meeting of the baddies. Something's about to go down.** **Before you ask, yes. I'm taking the USJ storyline.**

 **Finally, we got some Cardin moment and oh my God! He's not totally a prick! Take that canon Cardin! As we can see, Cardin's prideful nature is clearly inspired by Bakugou's but he's not as prideful as him. Bakugou took longer to acknowledge his weakness while Cardin, in this story, could admit it quickly. They also showcased their anger differently. While Bakugou's anger is explosive, Cardin's is cold. I will definitely dive deeper into Cardin's prideful side and his anger.**

 **Have any criticism? Please, by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Again, thank you for reading.**


	8. Storm

Driving through the thick forest road towards Emerald Forest, Jaune sat quietly on his seat inside the bus along with his friends and people that lived across from his dorm.

He sat beside Ruby, who was sitting next to the window, gazing the scenery outside. Both wore the same outfit they wore during their Entrance Exam. Her weapon was in its compact form and she was cradling it as if it was a baby. _Yang told me she could be a bit crazy with her weapon but this? This is obsession._

The only thing different about Jaune's outfit was the sallet helmet he got from Nora. He still didn't know what to feel about it, so he just wore it the entire way. Crocea Mors ever so present on his laps.

He looked at the front of the bus and saw his aunt conversing herself with the bus driver. She was the only Beacon's professor in the bus due to the other two would be waiting at the forest.

 _There's still about half an hour before we arrive._ He looked at the other occupants in the bus and the first person he saw was Cardin. _Why does it always go back to him?!_

He wore the same thing as he did during the Entrance Exam as well, with his mace laid on top of his lap. He was calmly taking a nap.

Next to him was Reese and she was happily humming to herself. _Are those two close? Or is she the only one capable to converse herself with him?_

Reese wore a dark purple hooded sweater over a mauve sweater. She also wore black shorts, knee pads and elbow pads. She wore black high-top sneakers. She was holding on to her skateboard. She got the skater-look going on, but the only difference was-

 _Why doesn't her skateboard have wheels?_

He eyes then laid on another set of passengers; Arslan Atlan and Bolin Hori, Cardin's roommates.

Arslan had a dark complexion, shoulder-length platinum blonde hair and olive-green eyes. She was a bit taller than Weiss and she's not even wearing heels. She wore a yellow robe with only one wide, loose fitting sleeve over a black tube top. She also had black pants and shoes accompanied by a red sash embroidered with a "endless knot" on it.

Arslan was also one of the recommended students that got into Beacon. She's a Mistralese like Pyrrha, Ren and Nora.

Bolin was also a Mistralese. His hair was black, and his eyes were amber in color. He was a bit shorter than Jaune. He wore a yellow sash over a dark blue vest and gray pants with yellow lacing up the sides. He also wore black boots and black fingerless gloves. The most prominent aspect of his outfit was his dark gray necklace. His staff was ever present.

 _I guess that is to be expected, considering the outfits they're wearing._

He then turned his head towards two of his own roommates; Ren and Nora.

They wore the same outfits they did during the Entrance Exam but, unfortunately, he didn't have that much time to observe it, considering the Goliath attack.

Ren wore a dark green, long-sleeved tailcoat with black and gold trimming. He wore a black long-sleeved shirt underneath and light-tan pants with black shoes.

Nora, on the other hand, wore a collared black vest. She also wore a white sleeveless top and matching fingerless gloves on each hand. She sported a short pink skirt and her shoes were a mix of pink and white. She also wore armor. _That armor doesn't look practical… Aesthetic, maybe?_

Nora was happily conversing with Ren while he intently listens to her, with a small smile on his face. _Those two couldn't be more different but they got along nicely._

Their weapons laid nicely together near the window.

He looked over to another set passengers on the bus; Sky Lark and Russel Thrush, another two of Cardin's roommates.

Sky's hair was grayish blue and slicked back while his eyes were natural-colored blue. He was tall, just a bit shorter than Jaune was. He wore a simple black v-neck shirt and over it, he wore a gray leather jacket. He wore the same-colored pants as Jaune's and brown boots. His spear laid on the bus's floor. _He probably looks the most normal out of all of us._

Russel had a light-green mohawk, side and back shaved and his eyes were brown. He was as tall as Blake. He wore a hoodie with the sleeves cut off and two bracers on his arms. He wore a brown strap around his chest, holding a spiked spaulder to his left shoulder. He also wore dark-gray pants and his boots seemed to be made of a thick brown material that went up to his knees. His knifes were sheathed.

Sky calmly read his book while Russel was ogling on some of the girls in the bus which, in turn, made them glared daggers at him. He just casually crossed his arms with a huge grin on his face.

 _Such stupidly-placed confident!_

Then, he looked over to Dove Bronzewing, another one of the recommended students, and Nadir Shiko.

Dove had light-brown combed hair and his eyes were similar to Professor Port's, as in squinted. He was the same height as Yang. He wore tan-colored armor with a belt that bared a dove on its buckle. _Fitting._ He also wore the same color vambraces on his arms. Underneath the armor, he wore a black shirt and pants with a black scarf around his neck.

 _Does he wear that at Vacuo as well? I can't imagine going through the desert with that much armor._

Nadir, on the other hand, had long pink hair tied back into a short ponytail, with an undercut and the rest portion of his was black. He was the same height as Ren. His outfit consisted of a cream-colored short-sleeved jacket with yellow details and a black, long-sleeved v-neck shirt. His fingerless gloves were cream-colored as well. He wore black medium-length pants and cream-colored sneakers.

Both of them were taking naps as well, Dove's sword and Nadir's riffle beside them.

He then looked over to Pyrrha and Weiss, who was conversing happily towards one another. _Weird seeing Weiss getting along with… Well, anybody, to be honest._

Pyrrha wore a brown corset as a top. She also wore what seemed to be an elastic, black, mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm. She had bronze greaves as well as a bronze bracer on her left arm. Her high-heeled boots were brown with bronze trim. The most prominent aspect of her gear was her headpiece and red sash.

While she was talking to Weiss, she was cleaning her shield and sword/javelin/riffle. _People nowadays with their complex weapons. What's wrong with the classic?!_

His attention, then, went to Weiss.

She wore a white thigh-length strapless dress with a faint pale blue at the hem. Over it, she wore a same-colored bell-sleeved bolero with a ruffled collar, lined in red. She also had a small apple pendant. Her boots were white, wedged heeled. Her rapier sat nicely on her laps. _For someone wearing white, her personality doesn't match it._

He shook his at that thought. _No! Bad Jaune! You barely know the girl! Don't judge a book by its cover, damnit!_

When his eyes went back to them, Weiss was glaring back at him. She was probably mad that he was observing her. Pyrrha gave him an apologetic smile to him.

Knowing observing Weiss further was off limit, his attention went to Yang and Blake.

Yang wore a tan jacket with golden brown piping and short, puffy sleeves. Underneath, she wore a yellow crop top. She wore a brown belt and underneath, was a long, white piece of material and a black short. She wore a pair of brown, knee-high boots and orange over-the-knee socks. _Why is only her right sock pushed down? Fashion is weird._

Her gauntlets now changed into its bracelet form, making it a nice accessory for her to wear.

Blake, on the other hand, wore a black buttoned vest with coattails. Underneath was a white sleeveless, crop undershirt and white shorts. She also wore black low-heeled boots and full stockings that gradated from black to purple at her ankles. On her left arm was a detached sleeve with a silver cuff around her bicep. Black ribbons were wrapped around both of her forearms. _Even her clothes scream; M_ _ysterious._

Her katana was sheathed on her back.

They were both doing different things; Blake was reading while Yang was playing a game on her scroll. Jaune could almost made out one of Blake's eye twitching at the sound of Yang's scroll game.

Once he was finished with observing what everyone was doing and wearing, he looked outside of the bus alongside Ruby.

While he was gazing out, his mind was elsewhere. _Sometimes I wonder why I observe too much. I can understand observing their activities but their clothes? That's kinda creepy, to be honest._

When he thought it through, he came to the two most possible conclusion; 1) He was observing their clothes to see what it could provide during battle or 2) He observed it because it looked cool.

 _Yeah, I'm going with number two._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Once they arrived at the gate, they all went out of the bus. Jaune looked around and the only one presented, beside themselves, was Professor Port. _Where's the other instructor?_

"Hmm? Peter?" Aunt Glynda called out, catching Professor Port's attention. "Where is he. Don't tell me he's off in the forest by himself."

"Ho ho! But that's exactly what he did!" Professor Port exclaimed happily, making Jaune's aunt let out the dark aura once more. "B-but no worries, Glynda! I'm sure he'll be here any minute now!"

"You got that right!" someone spoke from inside the forest. When said someone finally let his presence known, Jaune's face turned to one of shock.

"Oh, finally. You're here. Let me properly introduce to you students. This is-"

" **DAD?!** " Jaune pointed his finger at his father in shocked. "The Hell are you doing here?!"

"Ha ha! Don't be like that, son. Shouldn't you be happy to see your old man finally out of the house, doing something productive with his life?" Jackson Arc said, laughing at his son's antic. "By the way, what's with the helmet?"

His father wore his usual hensley, cargo pants and boots. The only armor he wore was his gauntlets and greaves. His own sword sheathed.

"Even so, you still have to tell me you will be here! And here I was hoping it will be someone spectacular," Jaune crossed his arms at his father. "And my friend bought me this helmet, so I wear it."

"W-wait! Are you saying I'm not a spectacular Huntsman?!" his father dropped to his knees. "M-my own son… Don't even acknowledge his father's work. The world truly hates me."

"Is not that I don't acknowledge your work, Dad," that cause his father to perk up. "It's just that... You're my Dad."

"W-what?" now it was his father to turn confused. "W-what's that supposed to mean?!"

"You're my dad, Dad. Which mean no matter what you do, I wouldn't truly take you seriously," Jaune countered. "Dad, you're might be "one of the greatest" Huntsmen but being with you for about 17 years, now? Your Huntsman work does not reflect your personalities at home. You can be quite childish."

"He's right, Jack," his father looked over to his aunt in disbelief. "Now that I think about it, there were moments when Jaune's the one in charge instead of you. Congratulation, Jaune, you're one step closer to becoming like your father."

"I don't if that's a good thing or not."

He laid down on the ground in defeat, "First my son and now my own sister-in-law? This is officially the worst day of my life."

 _Cough_

Jaune, his father and his aunt all turned their heads towards the source of the cough; Professor Port.

"As much as I would like to witness for myself a happy family banter, do remember we have a class to teach," Professor Port raised one of his eyebrow at that. "Also, Glynda, I would advice to not use your student's first name when teaching. I understand he's your nephew but please refrain yourself."

His aunt instantly regained her composure and posture as a teacher of Beacon while the father-son duo only scratched the back of their necks apologetically.

Jaune went back to his friend and Yang instantly pulled him closer to her.

"I didn't know your father was going to be here," she whispered. "Also, why didn't you tell us about Professor Goodwitch being your auntie?"

"Well, I didn't know he was coming here in the first place as well," he whispered back. "Also, you didn't ask. I rather not talk about her being related to me on school grounds. If she caught wind of it, I'm screwed."

She only nodded before letting him go.

"So that is Mr. Arc," Jaune heard Weiss quietly commented from in front of him. "I didn't truly believe he was related to Arc but based on his personalities? There's no doubt about it."

"Told you," he smugly said behind her which earned him and a kick on his shin. _Worth it!_

"Okay, students. Let me reintroduce this fine man here," Professor Port started all over again. "This is Jackson Arc, one of the top Huntsmen living today. He's one of the many Huntsmen who had fought bravely during the battle between the Huntsmen and the "Grimm Witch" which had once conquered the City of Mountain Glenn. Today, he will help us in improving all of your Semblances."

The Grimm Witch… Even to this day, no one truly knew what happened during that faithful day. The only people who knew was the few Huntsmen that made it out alive. To be able to destroy a whole city and the people in just one night? Truly something that should never reach the ears of the people. Even journalists were forbidden to cover that incident, the Council made sure of it.

 _To think it happened the day before I was born._

"Please, Pete. Enough with the introduction. I ain't that good," he nervously scratched the back of his neck. _We both need to stop doing that._

Professor Port laughed heartily at that, "Truly humble to your very bones, Jackie. In all seriousness, I'm grateful you're willing to spend time to talk about your experiences and give some insights on your Huntsman's knowledge."

"Hey! Anything for an old buddy of mine. Besides, my son's here so I need to show him what his old man's made of," his father than looked over to his aunt. "I can't disappoint family now, can I?"

Aunt Glynda only shook her head at that, small smile graced her features.

" _How_ **truly** _touching_ **of** _you_ **to** _say_ , **Mr.** _Huntsman._ "

The unexpected voice made all of the students jumped and the instructors to pull out their weapons. What they saw was the last thing they expected.

It was a dark vortex and it was expanding more and more.

 _The Hell is this? A test?_ He looked over to the teachers which were in their battle stances. _An actual criminal attack?!_

From beyond the dark vortex, out came a group of people, clad in black. _There are about 30 to 40 criminals! The Hell is going on?!_

" _Mr._ **Arc,** _its_ **so** _nice_ **to** _finally_ **meet** _you,_ " one of them said, a female. Like everyone else, she was clad in black and wore a black mask that covered the entirety of her head. Her voice was modulated the same way the previous voice was.

 _This level of secrecy… There's must be more to it than to just cover their identities._

"I would say the same if I know who I'm talking to," Jaune's father replied. "Why don't you take off your mask and then we can have a nice talk."

" _We're_ **not** _here_ **to** _talk,_ **Mr.** _Huntsman,_ " one of the male of the group said, twirling around his cane. " _As_ **much** _as_ **I** _would_ **like** _to_ **have** _your_ **signature** _and_ **sell** _it_ **online,** _we're_ **here** _for_ **a** _different_ **reason.** "

"I don't know what you'll get out of this," his father glared the male down, pointing his sword towards him. "But for your sake, I suggest you walk away."

" _No_ **need,** " the male raised his hand casually.

" _You_ **all** _will._ "

Before they knew it, there were various dark vortex surrounded the Beacon students and teachers. As fast as it came, they were falling into it.

Scattering them.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Jaune slowly opened up his eyes slowly and the first thing he saw was green; Grass.

Struggling, he stood up and he noticed ruins around him. This was one of the spot in the Emerald Forest, The Ruins of Emerald.

His back was stinging a bit. He concluded, the dark vortex opened up in the air and he fell down on his back. He thanked God he decided to wore armor. If not, he would be injured more.

He looked around and noticed a couple of other students along with him; Ruby, Weiss and Nadir. _They're haven't wake up, yet._

He walked towards Ruby first. He slowly shook her body, not to move too much in fear of injured her more. She didn't wear any armor, so she was probably hurt more than he was.

Once Ruby finally stirred up, he went to Nadir next. He did the same and when he finally started to move, he went to Weiss.

Once all three of them stood up, they looked around for any sign of enemies. So far, no criminals or Grimm were on sight.

"What happened?" Ruby asked, massaging her head.

"Best guess? We got teleported. Probably one of their Semblances," Jaune replied while using his Aura to speed up his regenerative process. _My back is killing me!_

"Out of all people, why they have to target us?" Nadir whined. "Couldn't they attack tomorrow or something?"

"It doesn't matter if it's tomorrow or the day after. They will still attack," Jaune said. "We're just unlucky, that's all."

He looked over to his three partners, "Okay, guys. Before we start moving, we need strategize what we'll do when the criminals find us. Nadir, can you explain to me how your Semblance-"

"Wait a minute, Arc!" Weiss interjected. "Who made you the leader here?! I clearly didn't remember any of us made you leader!"

"Weiss, this is not the time for us-!"

 _Burst!_

Before Jaune could even finish his sentence, a dark vortex was opened in front of them and out came the criminals, 10 criminals to be exact. All criminals were quiet and were instantly in their battle stances. _10, huh? We might just be able to win this_

Jaune thought it was over, but he was very much mistaken.

Various Grimm followed suit; Beowolves, Ursai and Boarbatusks.

 _This is bad. This is really **really** bad!_

Knowing he got no other choice, he pulled out his sword and expanded his shield. The rest followed suit.

Getting into their battle stances, they readied themselves for the worse to come.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, which was not a lot.**

 **The first scene was basically description. Description, description, description. I know I shot myself in the foot the moment I introduced Jaune's clothing observation. Since I did it, I might as well see it through. So, the first scene was basically worthless, other than the slight activities that sort of let you peek a bit into their personalities.**

 **We finally meet the third instructor. I know some of you probably guessed it but at first, Jackson wasn't the first person I thought to include here. It was another RWBY character, but I decided to bring him later on in the story. Jackson just makes sense right now, to me, at least.**

 **The USJ storyline have finally initiated! Or, in this case, EF storyline! We see finally see the villains taking some action and now, the rest of the cast got scattered into the many places in the forest.**

 **Now that I think about it, this was a pretty pointless chapter. At least, Jaune get to speak with his father again. That's a plus!**

 **Had any criticism? Please, by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Again, thank you for reading.**


	9. Team

_Slash!_

 _Thump!_

 _Grr!_

Jaune avoided another slash from a nearby Beowolf before evading a strike from an angry Boarbatusk. At the same time, he also blocked an attack from one of the masked criminals.

 _Shit! Are these criminals' ninjas or something?_

True to his thought, all of the masked criminals used some sort of kunai and katanas. Their movements were also swift and quick, making it hard for Jaune to land a strike in.

Jaune pushed back the criminal, giving himself a good distance from him.

 _This helmet kinda throwing me off… Its hindering my vision a bit but taking it off now will give the enemies a chance to strike. I'll just have to make do._

Looking back at the Grimm that had him in their sights, he readied himself for any attacks. _Two Beowolves, three Boarbatusk and one Ursa. All of them attacks differently, how am I gonna approach this?_

Before he could catch a moment to think, one of the two Beowolves decided to launch itself to him.

 _Instinct it is, then!_

He dodged the attack and before the Beowolf could land, Jaune slashed its underbelly, stunning it for a moment. Jaune launched himself towards the other Beowolf, catching it off guard.

Putting Aura on his legs gave him a boost in speed. When the Beowolf opened up its mouth, Jaune saw the perfect target.

He pulled back his sword and when he finally had the right range, he slashed the inside of the Beowolf's mouth. When he pulled it out, he decapitated the Beowolf's head with a swift slash.

He turned back only to saw the other Beowolf already launched itself towards him. Barely bringing up his shield, Jaune managed to block the attack but he was sent flying a few feet away.

When the Beowolf started attacking again, Jaune was ready for it. He dodged it while simultaneously cutting the head off the Beowolf's body.

He rolled himself back into his battle stance, giving himself some distance from the Grimm and some of the criminals who had Jaune on their sights.

 _Calm down… Calm down… Don't attack yet…_

Barely noticing, Jaune got cut on his left leg by one of the criminals' kunai. _They're too fast!_ Dodging another one, he readied himself with his shield up and sword pointed.

Focused, Jaune could somewhat saw the movement of one of the criminals but his speed would definitely catch up to him in no time. Before the criminal could land a strike, he was shot down at the calf by a riffle; Nadir's riffle.

He looked over to Nadir and gave a silent nod, grateful for the assist. Nadir nodded back before focusing on his own enemies, firing away.

Nadir cloaked himself with a defensive barrier. _His Semblance?_

Opened up multiple tiny holes, he fired away his riffle through them. His bullets managed to shoot the Grimm, pushing them back.

 _Nice shots, Nadir!_

Jaune's sight was back to the Grimm.

 _Woosh!_

When they were about to attack, a flash of red entered Jaune's vision. With speed faster than that of an Alpha Beowolf, Ruby managed to cut down most of the Grimm that Jaune had his sight on.

 _She's fast as Hell._

In a mere moment, Ruby was beside Jaune, panting ever so slightly. _While she's fast, she still used a lot of stamina. Just like during the Entrance Exam._

With his guard up, he asked Ruby, "You okay?"

"Yeah… _Puff_ … _Puff_ … Just need to take a breather," Ruby replied, scythe readied to slice off some poor Grimm's limbs.

Jaune glanced down and noticed Ruby's hands were slightly shaking. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Your hands are shaking."

He looked over to Weiss for a moment and was surprised with how well she was holding herself up.

She used her rapier to repeatedly stab one of the Beowolves. Pulling back her rapier, she readied herself. The other Beowolves around her paced slowly in circle, Weiss clearly the target. When the Grimm simultaneously launched themselves towards her, she crouched and slashed with her rapier in a full arc, slicing off the limbs of the Beowolves.

Weiss got back up and summoned glyphs on her feet. With the glyph, she glided herself towards the limbless Grimm, as if she was skating on ice. She sliced all of the Grimm, killing them in the process. Once she turned around, another Beowolf was launching itself towards her.

 _Her Semblance's cool..._

She pointed her index finger and middle finger at the Grimm, summoning a glyph on its underbelly.

Pointing up, the glyph turned upwards, turning the Grimm up. With the belly exposed, Weiss launched herself and penetrated its underbelly, killing it instantaneously.

 _Wow… I guess she got recommended for a reason._

"S-sorry," Ruby nervously answered, catching Jaune's attention. "I kinda remembered the last time we were in the forest. Remember when you have to save me?"

 _Oh… No wonder she's a bit nervous. She's being cautious in how to go into the offense._

"But don't worry," Ruby continued. "I'll be the one to save you now."

 _Save us?_ "What do you mean-!"

 _WOOSH!_

A burst of wind, a blurry flash of red, a glimmering light of metal and the sound of slicing. When he put the pieces together on what had just happened, Jaune's eyes widened.

With blinding speed, Ruby cut all the Grimm presented in half, evaporated ever slowly. All of the other students were stunned with how fast the younger girl was. In a mere second, she managed to kill all of the Grimm. _No wonder she got into Beacon two years early!_

"Wow, Ruby! You-!"

He looked over to Ruby only to find her laid down, face first on the ground, completely exhausted.

"W-well… Y-you did good," Jaune complimented her nonetheless, Ruby groaned her appreciation.

"Watch out!"

 _Slash!_

Barely dodging the flying kunai, Jaune returned his sight towards the criminals, who managed to dodge Ruby's attack. _Shit! Why can't they just go away already?!_

"Nadir!" Jaune shouted, catching Nadir's attention. "Use your barrier to protect Ruby! Weiss and I will handle them!"

Nadir, without mouthing a word, went over to the now downed Ruby. He activated his Semblance, cloaking both of them. His riffle readied to attack if any of the criminals decided to attack them.

The criminals, on the hand, readied themselves with their kunai and katanas. They were all steady and stood tall, as if not even a storm could knock them down.

"You got any idea?" Jaune asked Weiss, not knowing how to proceed.

"Really? Now you want me to take charge?!" Weiss exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well… You were the one that didn't want me to be leader. So, here's your chance," Jaune replied. "Take it away."

"Now is not the time for sarcasm, Arc!" Weiss angrily exclaimed.

"I wasn't being sarcastic at all! I'm-!"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! SHUT UP AND STAY FOCUSED!" Nadir chimed in, furious.

Both Jaune and Weiss refocused their eyes on their enemies once more. Jaune didn't know about Weiss but he was slightly embarrassed to lose focus during a fight. His father would had scolded him for it.

 _The only few rare moments when Dad actually acts like… Well, my Dad._

"Okay… Since you're not gonna take charge, I will," Jaune stated, eyes still on the criminals. "We'll wait for any of them to make a move. When they got close, I want you to summon that glyphs of yours around us. When they're under it, you can send them up in the air."

"…" Weiss stayed quiet for a moment. Jaune could understand Weiss not liking him but fighting was the last thing they needed. "Okay."

Jaune nodded, appreciated that she was finally willing to cooperate.

They waited for quite some time but none of them made a single move to strike, both party waited for the other. _Come on! If this stay on for longer, Nadir will lose a lot of Aura trying to retain his barrier._

Then, out of the blue, all of the criminals flew away to the forest, leaving the students at the ruins by themselves. _Did... They run away?_

Jaune was still on guard, eyes glancing everywhere in the area if any of the criminals decided to ambush them, so was Weiss.

Knowing the criminals likely ran away, Jaune sheathed back his sword. Weiss did the same with her rapier.

"That was weird..." Jaune said, trying to cut some of the tension in the air. Weiss nodded in agreement. "Well, whatever. Let's check on Ruby."

With that, they directly went to Nadir and Ruby. Nadir put down his barrier and was checking on Ruby. Once Jaune got close, Nadir gave her over to him.

"She's unconscious but still alive. Few scrapes on her arms and legs, nothing Aura can't fix," Nadir stated. "Now we just let her take a rest."

"Thanks, I'll carry her from here," Jaune said. He turned his body around and bent his back, signaling that he will carry her on his back.

Once Ruby sat firmly on Jaune's back, all of them got up.

"Seriously… This is turning to be more of a drag than I thought," Nadir complained. "So… What now?"

"Now? We either try to find the other students or we try to go back to the gate," Jaune said, adjusting Ruby on his back. _With Ruby on my back, I can't fight._

"How are we going to know where the other students are or the direction to the gate? The Ruins of Emerald is located deep in the forest, the farthest away from the gate," Weiss stated. "It will be a miracle if we could go to either of them."

 _BOOM!_

Deep in the forest, an explosion erupted. Shocked, Jaune and his friends looked over to the direction of the explosion. Smoke slowly coming out of the forest and went up to the sky.

Knowing there's an explosion, it meant one thing; A battle was going on. With that, Jaune knew his other classmates had to be there as well or better yet, the teachers.

"Well… That's a miracle, alright," Jaune chuckled. "Let's get moving. You two cover me."

Nadir nodded immediately but Weiss still seemed to hesitate before finally nodding herself.

With that, the team of four decided to meet up with the rest of their peers.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

"Where did those ten other criminals got here?!" Yang exclaimed, firing her shotgun rounds at any nearby enemies. Reese noticed that she was getting tired, shadow boxing to fire her weapons must took some toll out of her.

Surrounded by trees and bushes made the area a nightmare of a battlefield, especially to those that needed space to fight.

There were five people with Reese at the moment; Cardin, Arslan, Yang, Ren and Nora.

Cardin was facing against two Ursai, Arslan was fending off against a pack of Beowolves. Ren and Nora, on the hand, was fighting a King Taijitu, Nora even used her grenade launcher but to no avail. Reese and Yang had the pleasure to fight the criminals which there were two of them at first, now there were twelve.

"Argh! I'm getting tired already! First those two keep dodging and now ten more ninjas decided to join in!" Yang made sure her complaints were vocal for everyone nearby. "Reese! Help!"

"On it!" Reese tore her skateboard in half, changing them into handguns. She activated her Semblance, creating unlimited wind bullets in the guns' mag. _Wind Manipulation, don't fail me now!_

She fired away at the criminals but, once again, they all dodged the wind projectiles aiming at them. The ten new criminals dodged the attack by effectively using the trees as their covers. One of the two criminals they fought before used his wings to fly around the area, dodging the bullets as well, while the other one used her web to swing herself away.

"You know what? Since they want to fly around so much, let's join them!" Reese exclaimed, changing back her handguns into its skateboard form. "Time to get even!"

"Wait! What do you mean-!"

Before Yang could finish her sentence, Reese got onto her skateboard, activating her Semblance underneath it. Creating two balls of wind on the bottom at both end of the skateboard, she managed to hover herself in the air. Without warning, she flew towards the one with the wings.

" **What?!** "

The criminal, shocked, decided to run away from the flying skater. Reese, knowing how to maneuver her skateboard at ease, gave chase towards the winged criminal.

 _Even if you have wings, there's a limit to how fast you can go. Me? I can make my wind go as fast as I want! Which means-_

"You're screwed!" Reese shouted to the criminal, giving more speed to her winds. The criminal maneuvered himself against the many trees that stood in the forest but every time he took a turn, he would lose a bit of speed. Too bad Reese doesn't have that problem.

In a short period of time, Reese managed to get in front of the criminal. Shocked, the criminal tried to halt his movement, trying to change his angle to avoid her. _Fu fu fu… Futile~_

Pointing two fingers at the criminal, Reese activated her Semblance. With the wind at the tip of her two fingertips, her target on sight with nowhere to go, she knew she would not miss.

 _Bang!_

With the wind shot off her fingertips, the criminal got struck at his right bicep.

" **ARGHHH!** "

The criminal screamed, agonized at the fact his bicep got shot by wind. Reese cringed a bit at that, not expecting for him to be screaming by her attack. _Probably should've tone it down a bit. They're not Grimm._

Falling down, the criminal got caught by the webs of his partner at the moment. Both decided to rest up on one of the thick branches of one of the trees. _Idiots… You're making this way too easy for me._

Pointing her fingers again, she will try to tone down her wind by slowing it down by a tad bit. When she was balanced enough to shoot, she-

"Reese! Look out behind you!"

Surprised, Reese turned her head to her backside. Her eyes widened when she found out that one of the ninja criminals managed to sneak behind her without her noticing.

With his kunai ready, he launched himself at her. Pointing his kunai, the target was clearly her throat.

 _No! I can't dodge it in time! No! Somebody-!_

 _BANG!_

A bullet got through the criminal's leg, making him let go of his kunai, dropping it to the ground below. Regaining his balance, he hopped in one leg to the rest of the other criminals.

She looked down and saw the one who shot the criminal, he came with three other people. She smiled down on them, couldn't be happier.

"Nadir! Nice shot, buddy!" Reese maneuvered herself to the newly entered group. "Jaune! Ruby! Weiss! Fancy meeting you guys here! Did you guys got lost? Why is Ruby sleeping and Jaune carrying him? Does your helmet hinder you or not? Why-!"

"Even in this situation, you can still be chipper, huh?" Nadir tiredly said, like he always did. Even when his tone sounded tired, his eyes and riffle were always ready if any enemies came to them.

Before Reese could reply, Yang jogged her way towards them. Once she was there, Jaune handed off Ruby to her carefully.

"What happened?" Yang asked Jaune as she looked over Ruby, looking for any other injuries on her.

"She exhausted herself, use most of her Semblance," Jaune answered. "She's fine but she's still recovering. Don't worry, it wouldn't be long till she regains consciousness."

Reassured, Yang nodded her head towards him.

"Okay, Yang! You stay with Ruby," Jaune ordered. Yang instantly nodded, trust in him was evident, even to Reese. "Nadir, you cover for them."

"Hey, if it means I don't have to move much? I'm in," Nadir replied, getting into position.

"Reese, can you please assist your good friend, Jaune, here?" Jaune held out his hand towards her. She grinned from ear to ear, her happiness could not be contained.

"You kidding?! I will help you without you asking, buddy! I've been doing that since we first met!" Reese said, shaking the boy's hand excitedly.

He smiled down to her before he turned towards the other person in the group, "Weiss?"

She looked Jaune in the eyes, as if having a silent conversation with him. She sighed and said, "Fine. I'll help."

"Great!" Jaune grinned and looked over to the other students that busied themselves with Grimm and the rest of the criminals.

"Let's go!"

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Jaune looked over to the other students that were fighting their own battles, analyzing as they ran over to them.

Ren and Nora were still fighting the King Taijitu, a Grimm in the same class as the Goliath back at the Entrance Exam. Arslan was still fighting off the pack of Beowolves and some of the criminals, making it harder for her to stay focus. Cardin already killed off the two Ursai but was having quite a hard time fending off the rest of the criminals, seven to be exact.

"Weiss, go help Ren and Nora!" Weiss nodded, went off to help the duo. "Reese, you with Arslan! I'll help Cardin!"

"Roger!" Reese nodded. Before she went away from him, she said, "Don't fight with each other, okay?!"

He chuckled at her, "I'll try!"

Jaune went over to Cardin and when one of the criminal was on his sight, he launched himself with his sword pointed. The criminal barely dodged, his torso managed to get cut. _With no Grimm, this will be easier to handle._

Jaune regained his balance, back to back with Cardin. Cardin was surprised when Jaune got near, his mind was probably focused on the other criminals.

"Hey, Cardin," Jaune said as both circling around, eyes on the criminals. Cardin stayed silent throughout the entire ordeal. _Figured as much._

One of the criminals launched himself at him, katana pulled back. Once the katana came down, Jaune blocked the attack with his shield. Another one launched himself at him, much faster than the one he blocked.

Cardin then hit the launched criminal with a powerful mace swing on his back. That stopped him in his track and simultaneously knocked him out.

Jaune pushed back the criminal that tried to attack him before, giving him to Cardin. Cardin, noticing the criminal that was pushed back, swung his mace again, hitting the one of the criminal's kneecaps. _Ouch! That's gonna hurt…_

Getting back to their battle stances, they looked over to the other five criminals. Two of them were panting, while the rest seemed to not be taking any sort of damage.

Jaune glanced over to Cardin, eyes never leaving his enemies. He was slightly panting, clearly been fighting for quite some time. _I got some time to recover from walking through the forest. We need to finish this fast._

Without warning, the King Taijitu that fought Ren and Nora came into view. This caused the two students and the criminals to take a massive leap back. _What?! Why?!_

Then, all of the other students came to them, finished with their own battles. The other students took their battle stance except for Nadir as he had his barrier on the exhausted Ruby.

"Sorry, Fearless Leader! I try to kill it but its too fast for my grenade launcher. Even Ren having trouble fighting," Nora said, changing her grenade launcher to her massive hammer.

"Sorry," Ren chimed in, panting ever so slightly along with Weiss. "I wasn't fast enough."

Jaune looked back and noticed all the criminals had, once again, fleeted away from the scene. The only ones left were some that were knocked out. _Damnit! Well… At least we just have this guy to take care of._

The King Taijitu, a snake-like Grimm, looked down on the students, both of its head. Its massive figure was clear, as if it could swallow a man whole. While the Goliath was slow but strong, this one was more agile but dealt less damage. Still a deadly one, however.

Then, the one of the King Taijitu's head was about to attack with its poisonous fangs, its speed almost rivaled that of the criminals. _Shit! Ren and Nora weren't kidding!_

"Yang! Punch!" Jaune shouted.

"Arslan! Strike!" Cardin shouted.

Both fighter launched themselves towards the speeding head, arms pulled back. Once they were in range, Yang threw a haymaker while Arslan threw a palm strike.

Fist and palm connected to the two giant fangs, shattered upon impact. The head pulled away, screeching in agony. Yang and Arslan landed back on the ground and regrouped with the rest.

"Reese! Distract it!" Cardin ordered.

"Got it!" Reese then changed used her skateboard and started hovering herself towards one of the Grimm's head. _So that's why she has that. How though? Semblance? Or is the skateboard that advanced?_

Jaune shook his head, surprised he could be thinking about that at the moment. _This helmet is taking its toll on me._

"Ren! Nora!" Jaune suddenly shouted, gaining the two's attention. "You guys distract the other head!"

"Roger that, Fearless Leader!" Nora shouted while Ren silently nodded, both went off to do their given task.

"While their busy themselves with the heads, the rest of us will strike its body!" Jaune ordered and without looking back, he slashed at the King Taijitu's body.

The rest followed suit. Everyone had a role during the fight and all of them did their parts.

Reese was flying, turning every ways possible, making it difficult for the King Taijitu to strike. Ren shot and Nora swung her hammer at the other end of the Grimm. Weiss stabbed away, Yang used many combinations of punches and Arslan strike in every directions. Cardin activated his Semblance while swinging his mace, giving his attacks more edge in its impact.

Even with the combined forces of everyone, however, the King Taijitu was still standing, defiant to die against the like of teenagers. The other end of the King Taijitu managed to fight off Ren and Nora, knocking them back a good distance away. Jaune could see some of his friends started to struggle against the giant monster.

 _Shit, I have to use my Semblance. But I don't know how to use it without breaking my-!_

Suddenly, an idea popped into Jaune's head. He backed away and aimed his hand at the head that was distracted by Reese, as if he was to flick his finger.

 _With this, I can-!_

Another idea popped and Jaune shouted, "Cardin! Activate your Semblance on your feet!"

Cardin looked back to Jaune, silent for about a moment. When he understood what Jaune was about to do, he did as he was ordered.

Once he activated his Semblance, he jumped towards Jaune's hand.

 _Gotcha!_

 _Flick._

 ** _BOOM!_**

With a flick of his finger and Jaune's Semblance, Cardin was sent flying to one of the King Taijitu's head. He altered both of his arms and went right through the head of the Grimm.

The other head screeched, clearly feeling the pain of losing one of its other head.

 _Yes! Minimize the side effect while maximizing the power! Way the go, brain! It still hurts though!_

With that thought, Jaune's index finger broke inside his gauntlet. He figured he didn't need to use his entire arm to use his Semblance, a finger or two could do the job just fine!

Seeing this as a chance, Weiss activated a massive glyph at the top of its other head. Motioning her fingers downward, the glyph slammed the other head towards the ground.

"Now! End it!" Weiss screamed while trying to maintain the glyph.

Yang and Arslan both launched themselves and finished off with a powerful punch. Yang shot some of her shotgun bullets during impact while Arslan sent a massive shockwave after the impact.

This caused the head to be overwhelmed and exploded. Limping, the Grimm started to evaporate.

They had done it, they killed a King Taijitu.

"We did it!" Reese exclaimed, throwing her arms in pure joy. That got a few good chuckles from the Beacon students.

Once everything cleared out and no threat was present, they took a moment for a breather. They were all exhausted from the fight they just had.

Unfortunately, they still need to find their teachers and their other friends.

"Okay, everyone… Once we rest for about ten minutes, we're moving back to the gate," Jaune said. That gained him groans of acknowledgement, though some wanted to deny it. Unfortunately, they were too tired to argue.

 _Now I can somehow understand Nadir. This **is** a drag._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading the newest chapter!**

 **First, I apologized for not updating last week, even though I said I don't update frequently. Again, I apologize.**

 **This chapter is the continuation of last chapter. Here we got to see Jaune interact with one of Cardin's friend; Nadir. If anyone ask, I based Nadir of Shikamaru. They're lazy as fuck but when in need, they got your back.**

 **We also got to reveal the other students' Semblance as well. Nadir with his barrier and Reese with her wind power. I always like elemental power so having to write a character with one is really exciting. I can't wait to write more with Reese.**

 **Jaune and Cardin worked together! Yeah! Ha ha! But, honestly, having them work together is one of the most fun I have on write those two. Most time, people want to pit those to in battle but what's wrong with making them partners once in a while. They even worked together without saying much. That's what you call teamwork, baby!**

 **Had any criticism? Please, by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Again, thank you for reading.**


	10. Counter

"Did everyone rest up?"

"If you think ten minutes are enough to rest up, then yeah."

Jaune sighed at Yang's respond. He knew ten minutes ain't enough to replenish all of their strength. Unfortunately, he also knew that the more time they wasted here, they will give more time for other Grimm to attack them or, worse, criminals finding them again.

 _At least my finger's fixed, Jaune thought as he fixed his helmet once more. I'm throwing this away tomorrow but for Nora's sake, I'll wear them until we get back to school._

Jaune decided to find a different location from their previous spot, where the knocked down criminals were still laying around. _Hopefully they haven't woken up and even if they did, I hope they go somewhere else and not here._

Everyone, at the moment, had all rested up and restored whatever strength they could muster. Even Ruby had regained consciousness in that ten minutes period. She stayed close to Yang, holding onto her if she ever passed out again.

 _She's been quiet ever since… I hope she's okay._

"It'll be better than the enemies finding us. The more time we waste, the more risk we will be taking," Arslan said, in respond to Yang.

 _Thank you, Arslan. Such a dear._

"I know, I know…" Yang sighed. "Just frustrated, is all."

"Understandable but now it's not the time to be wasting time dwelling on something trivial. We need to focus on the task at hand."

"Yeah, yeah! I know!" Yang, started to get more frustrated, said to her.

"Um, guys… Please don't fight," Jaune said, eyeing the two if one of them decided to start a fight against one another.

"I don't understand why we would start a fight," Arslan said, blinking twice at him as if he said something weird. "I found nothing wrong with what I just said."

"No… But I wish you wouldn't be so blunt," Jaune said, smiling awkwardly at her. In return, she smiled awkwardly as well.

"I see, I apologize," Arslan bowed her head towards Yang. "I will try to be more tactful moving forward."

Yang looked to be dumbfounded for a moment. She was probably surprised by Arslan's sudden action, because Jaune also felt the same. "Well… As long as you realized your mistake, we're good."

The others looked upon the two and their interaction. He couldn't speak for the others but for him, this seemed weird.

"Well… That was a thing," Reese chipperly chimed in. _Glad I'm not the only one feeling that way._

"Okay, now what?" Ren asked, Nora stayed close to him. _They still managed to stay together even when they got teleported. Not even the world seems to be able to separate the two._

"We need to go back to the gate, hoping others will be there as well as the teachers," Jaune said. "Question is; How?"

"But what if we go there, the teachers and the rest of our friends aren't there? What if the criminals are already waiting for us there?" Weiss questioned, still not on board with Jaune's idea. _Can't blame her but right now, we don't have much choice._

 _Step_

 _Step_

The sound of sudden footsteps towards them and all of the students presented pulled out their weapons, eyeing the approaching newcomer; One of theirs.

"Calm down, guys. It's me," said Dove as he walked towards them, eyebrow furrowed. He was probably annoyed by the fact all of them thought he was an enemy.

"Sorry, Dove. We're a bit jumpy right now," Reese said, apologizing on behalf of them.

"After what I just experienced, can't blame you," Dove said casually as he stood right next to her and Cardin. "I got ambush by a couple of Beowolves. After finishing them off, walked straight and ended up meeting with you guys."

"Lucky! We got to fight a lot of Grimm and criminals," Reese puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "It's very tiring!"

"Ish… Sound like a pain, if you ask me," Dove commented. "Guess I got lucky, then."

While that small talk turned into a full-blown conversation with everyone, a certain thought plagued Jaune's mind.

"Hey, Cardin," Jaune called out, which surprised Cardin himself. "Your Semblance can alter your body into steel, right?

Cardin stayed silent and continued on glaring while Reese looked between the two nervously.

"Look, I know you still hate me but back when we teamed up just a few moments ago, you didn't shove me out," Jaune said, staring right into his eyes, backing down wasn't an option for the Arc boy. "That means, you're willing to help me but you won't speak to me unless you want to. Is that about right?"

Cardin stayed silent throughout but Jaune knew he had caught his attention.

"I learned from Ruby that Pyrrha's Semblance is Polarity; An ability to control metal. Now, what I want you to do is to alter your arm and try to find any sort of thing that feels like a magnet. If there's one, then we know where she is and hopefully the others will be there as well."

Cardin didn't mutter a word during that and proceed to do exactly what he was instructed.

Jaune let a small smile graced his face. _Glad he's still willing to work with me. It might be hard to fully have his trust again but it's not impossible._

 _Tap_

With his shoulder touched, Jaune looked back to see Reese smiling back. She was happy that the two could somewhat worked together, even if Cardin didn't say anything.

Reese proceed to stay beside Cardin and waited for any sort of signal from him.

"I didn't know you two hated each other," Yang said as she walked towards Jaune and stood right next to him.

"No, only he hates me, I don't," Jaune responded.

"Now I know why you defended him back at the mess hall," Weiss chimed in on the conversation. "The thought of you and that guy having a history did not crossed my mind in the slightest."

"Can't blame you," Jaune replied back. "He made it very clear he didn't tolerate my existence back then."

"Got one!" Reese called out to them. True to her word, Jaune noticed that Cardin's arm was visibly shaking, clearly indicating that it was being pulled by some sort of magnet.

"Okay, guys! Let's move!" Jaune exclaimed and all of them started walking towards the direction where Cardin founded the signal.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

All of them walked quietly and all readied themselves if any enemies, be it Grimm or criminals, decided to attack them.

Cardin and Reese up front, the rest followed suit.

As Jaune walked, he noticed Ruby was being quiet throughout the entire walk. She even stood further behind Yang, making the older girl throwing a few worried glances towards the younger girl.

He slowed his pace to match hers.

Once she registered that Jaune was walking beside her, she looked up. Jaune smiled at her but he only got a half-assed one in return.

"You okay?" Jaune asked.

"… Yeah, I'm fine," she tried to reassure, but even she herself wasn't convinced with what she just said.

"Really? Is that why you've been so quiet, so far?" Jaune asked, noticing Yang herself slowed down her pace with the two and walked beside Ruby, the opposite side of Jaune.

"You noticed, huh?" Ruby let out a deep sigh. _God, she's too young to feel that old._

"I might not look like it, but I noticed a lot of things when I need to," Jaune explained and maybe for the first time, felt pride in his observing nature.

"Really, now? I wondered what other things you noticed," Yang chimed in, crossing her arms underneath her- _Nope! You're not getting me, Yang!_

"What?! No! No! No! That's not the things that I noticed!" Jaune, red in the face, turned his face away from Yang, causing her to burst out laughing.

"Aww~ Am I not to your liking? I'm sure I can change your mind if you and I give it a go," _GOD, HELP ME! THIS GIRL IS TRYING TO CORRUPT THIS PURE HEART OF MINE!_

"Argh! Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Jaune shook his head, trying to get the naughty thoughts out of his mind. He would not be corrupt by the temptation of lust and he would make his mother proud, damnit!

Then, they heard the sound of giggles; Ruby's giggles.

Jaune smiled down on the younger girl giggling away. Gone was the quiet act and now the exchanges between the two made the girl they knew to return. He and Yang looked to one another and both smiled happily, knowing their exchanges worked, even if was unintentional.

"Ready to talk about what's gotten you quiet?" Jaune asked once again, trying to find answer for her sudden change of behavior.

Ruby sighed, probably knowing he won't stop until he got something out of her, "It's just… When everyone was fighting, I was on the ground, passed out. Not only that but I had to be protected by Nadir too, just like during the Entrance Exam. I just felt so worthless."

Jaune wanted to interject but Yang stopped him with nothing but a single glance, knowing her sister wasn't finish talking.

"I'm an idiot," Ruby continued. "I used up my Semblance at full power just to kill off the Grimm. Then I ended up missing the rest of the criminals back then. All because I wanted to prove I can do it, that I'm not someone to be protected. Then, I got too exhausted and passed out, leaving the three of you to fight them.

"I feel like I don't belong to be here."

Jaune had no idea that Ruby felt that way.

"You know what, Ruby?" Jaune said, catching her silver eyes. "You are an idiot."

That caused two types of reaction; 1. Ruby to widen her silver eyes, making it rounder than before. 2. Yang's red eyes glaring back at him, as if she would make his day a living Hell if he didn't pick his next words correctly.

"H-hear me out!" Jaune nervously tried to subdue the situation so that Ruby won't cry and Yang to punch him.

"The reason why I called you an idiot because you didn't need to prove anything," Ruby was surprised by that, clearly wasn't expecting that. "Just because you're two years younger than us, doesn't mean you have to prove anything. You got here for a reason Ruby, know that."

"But-"

"No but! Ozpin saw something in you that not a lot of people could," _That's true for me too._ "You got in here and that's enough proof to tell you that you do belong. Sure, you got knocked over once or twice but so did I. Hell, I broke my entire right arm punching that Goliath back at the Entrance Exam and when I was fighting Cardin.

"The road gets bumpy every now and then but that doesn't mean you won't arrive at your destination. You don't have to prove anything to us, you just have to fight with us. Okay?"

Ruby kept on staring back at him, all the while following the rest of their friends.

Ruby looked down and wiped some of the tears that started to come out. "Thank you, Jaune. I really need that. Thank you so much."

Jaune nodded to her and looked back to Yang, who was finally stopped glaring and started to gently smile at him.

"Didn't know you were good with words, Jaune. It feels like you're an older brother talking to a younger sister," Yang commented, smile still presented. "Do you have a younger brother or sister back home?"

"Ahh… No, I don't," Jaune said. "But I did a lot of practice, though."

"Practice? What do you mean-!"

" **DUCK!** "

With a sudden shout from Cardin, we all did what was instructed. All of a sudden, an Ursa was sent flying pass them, knocking down some of the trees of the forest. The Ursa then evaporated into nothing, leaving behind ashes of what once a bear-like Grimm. Jaune looked up only to widen his eyes, surprised.

He saw the gate of the Emerald Forest, so Jaune plan came to fruition, even if it was unexpected. The rest of their friends and teachers were also there, as well as the criminals and Grimm. Everyone was at a clearing near the gate and were too busy fighting to notice the approaching group.

"So, all of us are here. Great," Nadir nonchalantly commented.

Jaune analyzed the situation at hand, both good and bad. His father was fighting against four criminals and they seemed a lot better than the criminals they fought before. Professor Port was fending off more criminal, about fifteen of them, alone. His aunt was sending Grimm flying left and right, but the problem was there was a barrage of them.

 _She's going to be exhausting if they keep on piling up._

The students, on the other hand, had it a bit easier. Pyrrha was fighting off against a couple of criminals herself, but she seemed obviously exhausted. Bolin and Russel joined together and faced off against multiple Grimm. Sky was protecting Blake on the ground, probably injured, eyeing up any enemies nearby.

"Okay, I got a plan," Jaune looked back to his friends, gaining all of their attention. "Ruby, you're on sniper duty. Find a high ground and stay put. If you find any of the enemies gaining an advantage during the fight, you shoot them but don't kill them."

 _With that, she can protect others without needing protection._

Jaune looked directly into Ruby's eyes, "Think you can do it?"

"You got it, Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed, already on the move to find her spot.

"Arslan, Yang, you guys go on and help Bolin and Russel. When you guys are done with that, go help with the others." both of them nodded, accepting their roles rather quickly.

"Jaune, I want to fight with Pyrrha," Dove interjected, causing Jaune to be surprised for about a moment before gaining his composure. "I know how she fights, that makes me worthy of fighting alongside her."

Jaune thought it through for a moment and nodded, "Okay, but you're taking Cardin with you."

Dove nodded, not finding the request to be a hindrance.

"Weiss, Reese, you two help out with Professor Goodwitch," Reese nodded automatically, while Weiss seemed to be hesitant. Then, Jaune added, "I'm sure if you help her, she'll give you extra credit."

Just like that, Weiss agreed to the plan. _She's too obvious, sometimes._

"Nadir, since I know you hate doing something for too long and too much," with that, Nadir perked up. "So, you're going to cover Blake while she's recovering, and Sky will look after both of you."

Nadir suddenly grabbed hold of Jaune's hand, grip tight.

"Thank you," Nadir simply said and Jaune simply nodded, giving him a thumbs up.

"Ren, Nora," _Even I can't seem to separate the two! What the Hell?!_ "You'll be with Professor Port. Do be careful not to get in his way, he seems like someone who appreciates his masterpiece and don't want to be bothered. Just take out the people that's he not focusing on."

"Aye, aye, Fearless Leader!" Nora saluted and Ren nodded. _They really come in one single package. If you get one of them, you're getting both of them._

"What about you, Jaune?" Ren questioned.

"Me? I'm gonna fight with my Dad," Jaune looked towards his father, still fighting against the four criminals. "I've been my Dad's partner for quite some time now, so I know exactly how he fights. Beside, he only got four criminals on him, I think I can manage."

Jaune looked back, eyes serious.

"Move out!"

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 _Of all things, I have to get myself injured._

Blake thought as she tried to increase the rate of her regenerative process. A lone Beowolf managed to leave a deep cut from its claw, after exhausted herself from using her Semblance.

Now, she was on the ground while Sky was guarding her as she was recovering.

 _Step_

 _Step_

Blake and Sky looked over to their left and found Nadir was running towards them, riffle ready if any of the enemies decided to ambush them.

Knowing who was approaching, Sky turned back and said, "You're late."

"Hey, don't blame me. We were sent away far away from here. Trust me, it's frustrating for us as much as it was for you," Nadir said, as he started creating a barrier around Blake.

"Us?" Blake questioned.

"Yeah, the rest of the gang's here," true to Nadir's words, Blake saw the rest of her classmates helping the rest of the people at the clearing. "Sky, use your Semblance and fog us."

"I don't know… I don't want to use more of my Aura as I already am," Sky replied, eyes always focused.

"Don't worry. If you used up your Aura, we'll still have mine," Nadir said, riffle pointed at every directions with tiny holes in the barrier.

"If you say so," with that, Sky activated his Semblance and thick smoke started to come out of his body, fogging them from any other eyes. Blake had seen him used his Semblance back at Combat Class and as fast as it came, the match was over.

"And you," Nadir looked down to Blake, gaining her attention back. "We're doing this for you. So, you better speed up your recovery."

"Glad that you're treating me so delicately," Blake said, sarcasm on full blast.

"Good," Nadir nonchalantly replied.

Blake shook her head, smirking while speeding her regenerative process twice as fast. Two people were protecting her, she had to make their work worth it.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

"Hey, Yang~, how're you doing?"

"Not the time, Russel!"

Yang said as she punched away a few Beowolves away from them at the moment. Arslan and Bolin was fighting at their side while she and Russel were at the other side. _Why do I have to be his partner, right now?_

Arslan and Bolin seemed to be comfortable fighting next to each other. When Arslan done striking an opponent with her palm strike, Bolin will come in and finished it off with his staff. _They're synergy is ama-!_

"Duck!"

A sudden shout from Russel managed to make Yang avoid the incoming slash from a nearby Ursa. _Damn! What a rookie mistake! I've should've been more cautious. Stupid, Yang!_

Before the Ursa could launched back, however, it was attacked by multiple throwing knife, courtesy of Russel Thrush.

"You're welcome," with a grin, he went back to attacking the rest of the Grimm.

 _At least he's useful for something._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 _They just keep on coming… At this rate, I'll be too exhausted to help the others._

Pyrrha thought as she continued to fight off the criminals, all of them seemed compatible with their katanas. Some got knocked out but there's still some that were stubborn enough to fight on.

 _I'm getting more exhausted by the minutes. I should have one of us help me. Damn my pride!_

One of them decided to attack but before he managed to get a hit in, a sword blocked the attack, a familiar one.

"Having a tough time?"

She looked over to her protector and it was Dove with Cardin started fighting against one of the criminals.

"Not at all," _Just thank him! Pride, come on!_

"Of course, you're not," Dove shoved off the criminal, getting a few distance away from them.

 _Out of all people, Dove wasn't the one I think will come to help. Especially, after our last encounter._

Pyrrha and Dove readied themselves, more confident knowing she's now had a better chance on surviving this battle with the criminals, even if Cardin decided to fight on his own.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

"Professor! We're here to help you!" Nora shouted as both her and Ren ran towards the axe-swinging Beacon's professor. Ren shook his head, smirking at how Nora always announcing their presence.

"Oh? Oh!" Professor Port looked back and, somehow, smiled down on them as he threw one of the criminals into another criminal, knocking them down. "Students! How are you doing in this fine hour?"

"Never been better!" Nora exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. "We're here to help you!"

"Nora," Ren called out. "I think he heard you the first time."

"Ha ha ha!" Professor Port heartily laughed as he swung his axe once more when another criminal tried to attack him. "I appreciate your assistance! But do be warn, when I got into the groove of things, I may not notice any of you. So please be careful when you're fighting around me."

"Aye, aye, Professor!" Nora saluted, started swinging her giant hammer at the criminals.

Ren shook his head and started shooting down at the criminals.

 **O - O - O - O - O**

"Girls, I appreciate your help, but I'll appreciate it even more if we-!"

"Reese! We need to deal with the one on the ground first!"

"Die, Nevermore!"

"… work together," Goodwitch sighed, sending another Boarbatusk flying into an Ursa. She truly appreciated their help but if the two couldn't work together, this would take longer than usual to finish.

It all started with Reese decided to go airborne and wind shooting the angered Nevermore. Then, Weiss decided to chastise the young lady for her reckless abundance.

Now, all three of them were doing their own task.

 _I don't know why but for some reason, I want to scold Jaune for sending me these two._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

Finding a comfortable space on one of the forest's tree's branches, Ruby laid down on her belly as she adjusted Crescent Rose.

 _"You got here for a reason Ruby, know that."_

What Jaune said to her a moment ago kept on repeating in her mind, as if on loop. It baffled her how a simple sentence could be lingering in her mind and kept on replaying it.

 _I know he said I don't need to prove anything, but I still feel like I do._

She sighted her target through Crescent Rose's scope; An Ursa fighting against Weiss and she seemed to be struggling a bit.

 _Target; Head. Wind; East. Distance; Proximately 1040m. Angle; 30 degree._

After analyzing her shot, she took a moment to stabilize her weapon to have a clear shot. Once she was 100% sure she would make the shot, she took it.

 ** _BANG!_**

Through her sniper scope, she saw how the Ursa fell down. She also saw how Weiss looked around her, clearly confused as to why the Ursa died so suddenly.

Ruby chuckled as that was the usual reaction she got whenever she made her shot, Yang herself had made the same reaction.

 _But I'll prove myself by doing my best. I won't make any reckless attack again. I will hold my own weight instead of being a dead one._

 _I'll make Yang, Dad, Uncle Qrow and Jaune proud. I'll make you proud, Mom._

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 _These four are clearly on a different league compared to the rest of the criminals._

Jackson dodged a barrage of kicks from one of the criminals while simultaneously blocking attacks from a goddamn umbrella. _I swear, criminals these days are getting too creative with their weaponry._

" **Feeling** _tired_ **yet,** _Mr._ **Huntsman?** " the previous female asked, trying to provoke the veteran Huntsman.

"Please, this is considered normal Tuesday for me," _Mouth! What are you doing?!_

" **Well,** _I_ **guess** _we_ **just** _have_ **to** _up_ **the** _pace,_ **then,** " _Me and my big mouth! Hopefully Jaune doesn't get that from me._

A sudden cane came up to him while Jackson was busy with the ongoing attacks from the two criminals.

 _Clang!_

A sword knocked the cane away from the veteran, a familiar sword. Noticing the distraction, Jackson pushed away the two criminals. He then turned around to see his savior, only to be greeted with a dark slit on a sallet helmet. Then, upon seeing that, his instinct took over.

"Argh!" he screamed, quiet scared at the look of the person's helmet.

"Calm down! It's me, damnit!" his savior shouted, a familiar voice coming out of his mouth. _Wait… That's-_

"Jaune! It's you! Sorry, I didn't know since-!"

Before Jackson could finish his sentence, he blocked an attack by one of the male criminals with his sword. Jaune did the same as a female criminal used a flame blade from behind his father.

Both father and son protected each other.

"We'll talk later! Let's finish these guys off!" his son shouted, determination in his voice.

"Damn right!"

 _Now… Time to make my son proud!_

 **O - O - O - O - O**

 **Hello!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading the latest chapter!**

 **First, I'm deeply sorry for the late update. I have some personal issue I have to deal with, and I can't be bother with writing this story for quite some time. Also, after the finale of RWBY Volume 6, I was left disappointed. That also contributes with my writing pace. It feels like I'm losing my passion for this series as a whole and not just RWBY Fanfiction.**

 **But I'll try to put that disappointment to the back of my head and continue writing this story.**

 **I'll do my best!**

 **Oh! The whole gang is here! Hooray! If you noticed, I sprinkled some things in this chapter that will come later on in the story. Some already established relationship, certain characteristics and all that jazz.**

 **Had any criticism? Please, by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.**

 **Again, thank you for reading.**


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